‘Officers like you should be thrown into river’, says Ugrappa; Poojary collapses

Mangaluru, Jan 23: Unable to bear the harsh words used by Congress MLC VS Ugrappa for not giving proper answers to his questions, a senior government officer fainted during a review meeting in the city on Saturday.

Sundara Poojary, deputy director of women and child welfare department, is now admitted to a hospital and his condition is said to be stable.

Mr Ugrappa, who heads the Expert Committee on Prevention of Sexual Violence Against Women and Children, was in Mangaluru to hold a review on all cases of sexual harassment, atrocities and other attacks on women reported in Dakshina Kannada district.

When Mr Ugrappa took Mr Poojary to task during the meeting the latter started shivering. “An officer like you without having proper knowledge should be thrown into Nethravathi River. DC (A B Ibrahim), suspend him if you have the powers,” Mr Ugrappa shouted. Mr Poojary collapsed on the spot.

Mangaluru city police chief Chandra Sekhar and Dakshina Kannada SP Dr S?D?Sharanappa, who were present in the meeting immediately rushed to Poojary’s rescue and he was then taken to a hospital.

The reason for MR Ugrappa’s anger was that the officer failed to provide answers to the queries raised by the former regarding compensation being paid to the victims of sexual assaults in the district.

Later Mr Ugrappa told media persons that he had no prejudice or personal animosity against any official including Mr Poojary. “Sometimes we use harsh words if officials show irresponsibility and fail to provide details in the meeting,” he said.