Conflict breaks at the Endowments Department in Vizag

A conflict has arisen in the Endowments Department of Vizag when a shocking incident took place at the city’s Endowments office on Thursday morning. While the Endowments Deputy Commissioner (DC), V Pushpavardhan, was in his cabin speaking to three officers, the Endowments Assistant Commissioner (AC), Santhi, came in and threw sand on him. The whole incident was captured in the CCTV footage where the Assistant Commissioner was seen haranguing the Deputy Commissioner after throwing handfuls of sand on him. The CCTV footage from this incident has gone viral on social media. 

Regarding the incident, Ms. Santhi alleged that Mr. Pushpavardhan had been mentally harassing her for the past one month and she couldn’t tolerate it anymore. She claimed that the Deputy Commissioner had raised many false allegations about her in the media. It is learned that the recent suspension of officers in the Endowments Department, by Mr. Pushpavardhan, has allegedly led Ms. Santhi to take such a decision. 

On his part, the Deputy Commissioner has clarified that he has no differences with Assistant Commissioner and doesn’t know what caused her to react this way. He said that he will take up the issue with the State Government and the police.

It has been nearly a month since Mr. Pushpavardhan was transferred to Vizag as the Deputy Commissioner in-charge of the Endowments Department in the city. He had suspended the Executive Officer (EO), Srinivasa Raju, of Yernimamba temple, following complaints of irregularities. 

On this conflict between the Deputy Commissioner and the Assistant Commissioner, the Endowments Department and Vizag Police have ordered an inquiry into the incident. Of late, the Endowments Department has been very active in the city, conducting raids and following up on complaints about irregularities in temples’ accounts.