Senior RTO officials clash

A joint commissioner and his deputy at the Road Transport Office hurled abuses at each other at an official meeting. The deputy commissioner came late to the meeting and was furious when another officer questioned his work ethics, which triggered the war of words.

The fracas ended with both the joint commissioner, J Jnanendra Kumar, and the deputy RTO commissioner, Bengaluru Central, RTO Koramangala, K T Halaswamy, lodging complaints against each other, making accusations of criminal intimidation and wrongful restraint.

The Wilson Garden police have taken up both their cases, registered an FIR and are investigating the case.

The police said the incident happened at the Additional RTO Commissioner’s Office in the TTMC building at the Shantinagar bus stand around 4.30 pm, when Kumar had called a meeting following the instructions of the transport commissioner, and summoned all his subordinates.

Halaswamy walked in late and sat at the back. A few senior officials questioned his working style and asked him about the seized motor vehicles in his jurisdiction.

Thinking that the officials are targeting and intimidating him, an angry Halaswamy lunged at them.

The meeting was called off with Jnanendra lodging a complaint with the police against Halaswamy. The Deputy RTO commissioner filed a counter complaint against Jnanendra, alleging that he insulted him before the other officials.