Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Renuka Singh was seen in a video losing her temper and threatening district administration officials in Congress ruled-Chhattisgarh for allegedly beating a man up in a quarantine centre.
The Minister, while inspecting a quarantine centre in Chhattisgarh, was told that a local named Dilip Gupta was assaulted by the chief executive officer Vinay Gupta and tehsildar of the district panchayat Shadab Khan in a quarantine centre after he complained of mismanagement and poor arrangements. Dilip was kept under quarantine after he arrived from Delhi.
Speaking to , Singh said Dilip, who had come to Balrampur, was put in a quarantine centre and badly beaten for highlighting poor arrangements at the facility.
"After witnessing poor arrangements in the quarantine centre, Dilip shot a video to raise the issue. When the administration learnt about the video, two officials - a tehsildar and Janpad Panchayat CEO reached the centre. They threatened and thrashed him with a belt. After this, they shifted him to some other place and his family kept looking for him at various places. Later, his parents informed me and when I reached the centre, I found that the Gupta was badly beaten... The CEO Janpad Panchayat accepted that he made a mistake," the minister said.
In a video, the Minister told officials, "You have just beaten him because he knows his rights...You people are working arbitrarily. This attitude will not work. No one can do injustice with people of my region," she said.
The Minister also abused the Chhattisgarh government for "hiding everything".
She was further seen cautioning the officials to not consider BJP workers as "weak".
"Bhagvadhari BJP karyakartaon ko kamzor na samjhna aap... Jo bhed-bhaav kar rahe ho na BJP karyakartaaon ke saath .. Bhool Jaaiye .. Andheri Kothari mein le jaake mein ..belt kolke thokna jaanti hun bhut acche se... (Don't think that BJP workers are weak .. Forget about the discrimination which is meted out to them by you.. I very well know how to lock people in a room and thrash them with a belt)," the minister was heard telling officers.
Meanwhile, Tehsildar Khan dismissed allegations levelled against him by the Minister and said that he had gone to the quarantine centre to investigate against the complaint. He claimed that there was no assault on Dilip.
Cornering Renuka, he said, "What kind of words should be used by a minister depends on her discretion."
Describing the allegations made by the family of the Dilip as baseless, the CEO of the district said that there is no question of touching anyone who is under quarantine. "Our morale has been reduced due to the kind of words used against us. Such acts do not suit a minister. All officers are working together against COVID-19," Vinay Gupta said.
The Minister received flak for her statement after her video went viral on social media.
Balrampur MLA Brihaspati Singh hit out at Renuka and said: "This is not new for her. Due to this habit during Raman Singh government in the state, she was removed from the ministerial board. She got bankrupt after becoming a minister. This is why she is giving such undesirable statement and it shows her mental status."
He further said that officers should not be afraid as their work is "commendable".
( With inputs from ANI )