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Caught on camera: Rajasthan officer slaps petrol pump staff over CNG queue
The CCTV footage, which records the entire incident, shows the official striking the staff member, who then retaliated in self-defence.
Three petrol pump employees in Rajasthan's Bhilwara have been arrested in connection with a slapping incident involving an RAS officer, police said on Wednesday.
The incident occurred on Tuesday when Chhotu Lal Sharma, currently posted as a sub-divisional magistrate in Pratapgarh, was involved in a heated altercation with a staff member of a petrol pump that also sells CNG.
A video from Pratapgarh shows Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Chhotu Lal Sharma allegedly slapping a petrol pump employee after a dispute over service priority. The incident was captured on CCTV.
According to PTI, the altercation broke out following a dispute over filling CNG in another car before the officer's car.
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Sharma objected to the staffer filling CNG in another car, arguing that his car should be filled first because he arrived earlier. During this, another petrol pump employee intervened, but the officer slapped him. This led to the employee retaliating with a slap, too, police said.
The CCTV footage, which records the entire incident, shows the official striking the staff member, who then retaliated in self-defence. Following the scuffle, the petrol pump workers were detained by the police.
Meanwhile, Sharma's wife reportedly claimed that the pump staff had misbehaved with her; however, the CCTV video reviewed from the site shows no evidence supporting her allegation.
Police said that three pump employees — Deepak Mali, Prabhu Lal Kumawat and Raja Sharma — have been arrested in connection with the incident. The matter is being further investigated.
Local authorities are yet to issue an official statement on the matter.
The incident comes days after Rajasthan Director General of Police (DGP) Rajeev Kumar Sharma called upon police personnel to draw inspiration from the supreme sacrifice of martyrs and serve the nation with honesty and dedication.
He was addressing the state-level Police Commemoration Day ceremony held at the Rajasthan Police Academy in Jaipur, where tributes were paid to 191 police personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty between September 1, 2023, and August 31, 2024.
