Narayan, an executive engineer at the Irrigation Department, Hemavathi Irrigation Division, was allegedly manhandled by K.C. Narayana Gowda, MLA from K.R. Pet, at his office in K.R. Pet town on Wednesday.
The Janata Dal (Secular) MLA attempted to drag the engineer out of the office and also threatened to set his office afire if the department did not heed to his demand of immediately discharging water to canals, sources at the Departments of Irrigation and Police, said.
Some police constables witnessed the alleged incident. However, they were mute spectators, officials from the Irrigation Department alleged.
A protest was planned outside the Irrigation Office demanding the release of Hemavati waters to save standing crops that were withering across large areas in K.R. Pet taluk. Mr. Narayana Gowda led the protest in which a good number of his supporters participated. The JD(S) workers raised slogans against the officials alleging they were not bothered about the withering crops.
The MLA abused Mr. Narayan. Encouraged by his behaviour, other JD(S) workers also created noisy scenes at the office. Later, the MLA tried to drag Mr. Narayan out of the office.
The MLA also snatched some files, while the officer was explaining the water situation, and threw them on the ground, officials added.
‘Small incident’
While the JD(S) leaders termed the incident as ‘small and negligible’, the police said they will register a first-information report (FIR) against the MLA if anyone filed a complaint.
“The officer was not manhandled. It was an attempt to invite the officer to realise the plight of farmers by visiting the withering paddy fields,” JD(S) leaders told presspersons.
Sources close to Mr. Narayan said that he would submit a report to the State government against the MLA and his supporters.
