Assaulted consumer at Water Authority office; Junior Superintendent and Head Clerk suspended

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Two people have been suspended in the incident where Water Authority officials beat up a consumer who had come to inquire about the disconnection of his drinking water connection.

The Water Authority Chief Engineer (HRD) suspended Junior Superintendent EP Sajith and Head Clerk PR Anoop Kumar of the Pongummoodu office pending investigation. The action was taken in connection with an incident that took place on November 28th near the cash counter of the Water Authority's Pongummoodu section. A person named Sanal Kumar had filed a complaint with the Water Authority alleging that a group of employees of the Assistant Executive Engineer's office had beaten up a person.

However, the Water Authority was forced to take action only after the Human Rights Commission, which had taken suo motu action based on a newspaper report, ordered a police investigation. The Water Authority MD had examined the CCTV footage of the assault. The suspension order states that it was clear from the footage that Sajith and Anoop Kumar were assaulting the consumer and that this was a violation of the code of conduct.

The Chief Engineer of the Southern Region had rejected the report submitted by the Vigilance Department justifying the officials. It is indicated that action will be taken against more officials based on this.