People were taken aback Sunday night when Parveen Kumar, from the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), resorted to the bizarre step to prove his innocence, witnesses said Monday.

He was having encroachment removed in Sikanderpur area of Gurgaon when a group of villagers expressed their fury.

Initially, the officer tried to appease them. But when they alleged that he had favoured a known builder, Kumar took out his shoe and hit himself on the head repeatedly.
All the time he kept saying that he had never taken any bribe, but he was punishing himself since people thought he was corrupt.

The officer's action had a dramatic effect. People who were protesting the demolition drive rushed back to their homes.

The drive went on till Monday evening, overseen by the officer, who dozed off on the pavement when he felt sleepy.

Amid large security, the demolition squad pulled down several buildings including some major showrooms.

Kumar was earlier deputy commissioner in Faridabad where he carried out special drives for sanitation and against encroachment of public land. He registered more the 20 FIRs against corrupt officers.