CHANDIGARH – Senior IAS officer KS Pannu, in charge of the rescue team sent by the Punjab Government to Uttarakhand, was assaulted by some pilgrims stranded at Gobind Ghat. He was saved by jawans of paramilitary forces and the Army.
“I was attacked by some persons who insisted that they be evacuated first. We told them that our top priority was to rescue the feeble and the elderly and then women and children. But they would not listen. They hit me and I fell on the ground,” said Pannu.
Pannu was not only attacked but also insulted and humiliated by the small group of youngsters who raised slogans against the Punjab Government before attacking him. They were reportedly led by a youth attired in blue.
He said they also heckled a Colonel who was commanding the Sikh Regiment engaged in the rescue operations. “They were bent upon creating trouble and levelled petty allegations against me and the Army jawans and me,” Pannu said.
Denying that he had hurled abuses at some persons at Gobind Ghat that had triggered the trouble, Pannu said that there was no reason for him to do so.
“ I had gone there on a rescue mission and not to pick a fight,” he said. “Neither did I abuse anubody, nor did I hurt anybody’s religious feelings. All such talk is rubbish,” said Pannu.
Surprisingly, police jawans in uniform who were present there did not intervene to protect Pannu when he was being assaulted.
