Mysore, Oct 16: Rashmi V, IAS officer and Director-General of the Administrative Training Institute (ATI), Mysore, who was allegedly attacked by former contract employees of the institute, said that it was a pre-meditated assault.
Ms. Rashmi was allegedly slapped, hit with slippers and manhandled on the ATI premises by a group of protesters, who were accusing her of harassing mess supervisor Venkatesh (53) whose body was found in the water tank earlier in the day.
The protesters also waylaid Ms. Rashmi's official car and raised slogans against her. The police had to rush to the spot and escort her to safety in a police vehicle, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) A.N. Rajanna.
Earlier in the day, the ATI security personnel found a pair of slippers abandoned near the water tank. Suspecting that somebody has fallen inside, the officials summoned the Fire and Emergency Services personnel and drained the water out of the tank only to find Venkatesh's body. Nazarbad police inspector K.C. Poovaiah described Venkatesh's death as a suicide.
Venkatesh's relatives, including his wife, accused Ms. Rashmi of harassing her husband in her fight with the former Director-General of ATI Amita Prasad, also a senior IAS officer.
The assault took place when Ms. Rashmi went to pay her respects. But, Ms. Rashmi sought to delink the suicide of the mess supervisor with the assault on her. She said ATI officials had lodged a complaint with regard to the assault in the jurisdictional police station.
She said the incident was a fallout of her demand for a CBI inquiry into the alleged irregularities that had been committed in the ATI during the tenure of her predecessor, Ms. Prasad.
œThe catering contract had been extended for several years in violation of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act. I ended it after taking over, she said. The Director-General of ATI said she had already written three letters to the government to order a CBI probe into the irregularities. She said the caterers had submitted a bill of Rs. 8 crore of which Rs. 1 crore was pending since March this year. œAfter I took over, I questioned the payment of the outstanding amount as the contract was in violation of the KTPP Act, she said.
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