The IAS Officers’ Association of Karnataka on Friday lodged a complaint with Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on the manhandling of V Yashwanth allegedly by the supporters of BJP MLA Satish Reddy, a video of which is viral on social media.
This could potentially turn the tables against Reddy, who has been accused of being involved in the illegal blocking of Covid-19 beds in the city even as he joined hands with Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya to ‘expose’ the scam.
In a letter to the CM, the Association’s honorary president and Additional Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma expressed “strong protest” against Yashwanth, a young officer, being manhandled.
The incident took place on April 30 in the Covid-19 war room situated in the Bommanahalli constituency, which Reddy represents.
“Yashwanth was part of a team of officers who had obtained additional hospital beds from private hospitals. By initiating action in accordance with the law, the team of officers had obtained beds from the private hospitals. When pressure was brought upon the officer to yield the additional beds to the representatives (of the MLA), this was not agreed to. As a result of this, Yashwanth was manhandled and abused in public, with a video available as evidence of the incident,” Sharma explained.
The letter does not name Reddy, but the reference is evident.
“In the face of unprecedented challenges, IAS officers in Karnataka have been working tirelessly and with utmost commitment to discharge their duties and tackle the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Sharma said, disapproving of “inappropriate and rude” behaviour with officers. “More so, it is unacceptable to manhandle an officer who is discharging his duty without fear or favour.”
The Association has urged Yediyurappa to ensure police action by way of an FIR against those who manhandled Yashwanth.
Earlier this week, Surya, Reddy and two other MLAs Ravi Subramanya and Uday Garudachar went to the BBMP South zone war room and went public with their claims of a scam in which beds are booked for asymptomatic patients only to be sold off to patients in need for money, bypassing the software-based allotment.