The IAS Officers’ Association has written to Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa condemning the manhandling of IAS officer V. Yashavantha, who was in charge of the COVID-19 war room in Bommanahalli, and demanded an FIR against the culprits.
Bommanahalli MLA Satish Reddy, who is facing allegations of bed-blocking, went to Bommanahalli war room on April 30 with his supporters and reportedly demanded that beds be allotted to patients in his constituency. When his demands were not accepted, Mr. Yashavantha was pushed around and manhandled. Videos of the incident have been circulating on social media.
Mr. Reddy was among the three MLAs who accompanied BJP MP Tejasvi Surya to the South zone war room earlier this week to expose an alleged scam in bed allotment.
“Mr. Yashavantha was part of the team of officers who had obtained additional hospital beds from private hospitals. But the officer did not yield to pressure to offer the additional beds to representatives of honourable members of the legislative Assembly. As a result, Mr. Yeshavantha was manhandled and abused in public...”, the letter said.
Defending his actions, Mr. Reddy told The Hindu that he had gone to the war room on behalf of his agitated constituents, on a day that saw a large number of deaths in the area due to non-availability of beds.
