By IANS
Ranchi : An official of the Jharkhand government has said the state’s Human Resources Development (HRD) Minister Bandhu Tirkey has threatened him with “dire consequences”.
Shivashankar Tewary, deputy secretary of the finance department, in a letter to chief secretary P.P. Sharma said the minister threatened him over telephone Tuesday.
“I may be killed. I should be transferred to other department,” he said in his letter.
Tewary also informed departmental secretary Muktiyar Singh about the minister’s threat. “The minister called me at 3 p.m. Tuesday and inquired about a file. Soon, he became irritated and threatened me of dire consequences,” said Tewary.
The incident has agitated state administrative officials. They said they would launch a public protest if such threats are repeated.
Reacting on the issue, the minister said, “Though I scolded him, I did not threaten him. I only asked him to clear the file quickly.”
“The file was related to the salary of minority school teachers, which has been pending for several years. Even the state cabinet had cleared the payment proposal, and the official was delaying the process. We cannot tolerate this. The official should either clear the file or return it if there is any objection,” the minister added.