Ghaziabad police said that the man who assaulted IAS officer Rani Nagar’s sister Reema, had been arrested on Sunday. (Representational Photo)
A WOMAN IAS officer of Haryana cadre has alleged that she and her sister were attacked at her native place Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh Saturday evening when they protested against a man attempting to beat stray dogs in their locality.
Ghaziabad police said that the man who assaulted IAS officer Rani Nagar’s sister Reema, had been arrested on Sunday.
The accused, identified as Vishnu, told police that he is a tax consultant. According to Ghaziabad DSP Rakesh Mishra, Vishnu had returned to his home in his car at around 9 pm on Saturday. “As per preliminary inquiry, at that time, both sisters Rani and Reema were walking there. Vishnu either threatened the dogs in the street or beat them. Both sisters protested. The accused caught hold of Reema and threw her down,” Mishra told The Indian Express.
Vishnu was booked under sections 323 (assault), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 352 (assault or use of criminal force) of the IPC. He was produced before a local court which accepted his bail plea Sunday.
Hours after the alleged incident, the IAS officer had shared a post on her Facebook page describing the incident. She alleged that the accused attacked her and her sister with an iron rod. “I managed to save myself, but he attacked my sister with the rod. She has received several injuries on her leg,” said Rani in the post while sharing photographs and CCTV footage related to the incident. Police said the matter is being investigated.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala raised the issue and asked, “Why are the governments of UP and Haryana not investigating the conspiracy behind the murder attempts on Rani Nagar? What is the reason behind the constant deadly attacks on the officer?”
The 2014-batch IAS officer had lodged police complaints in different matters earlier too. She was recently in the news when she had announced her resignation from a post on her Facebook page on May 4 and immediately left Chandigarh for her hometown. Rani (38), who was posted as additional director of Haryana social justice and empowerment department, apart from additional charge of director of archives department, had requested the Chief Secretary to forward her resignation letter to a competent authority in the Union government. She had cited “personal safety on government duty” as the reason for her resignation. Her resignation had become a political hot potato with opposition parties questioning if she was being victimised.
However, days after she submitted her resignation, Union Minister Krishan Pal Gurjar took to Twitter to state that Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had refused to accept the same.