Update! Indian official who spent 41 million yuan from public funds to search for his lost phone has been ordered to pay a fine

Indian official fined for spending 41 million yuan of public funds to search for lost phone

【PhoneAuto News】In a bizarre incident that occurred in the state of Chhattisgarh, India (an administrative state located in central India), a government official extracted hundreds of thousands of liters of water from a dam to retrieve his lost phone. According to reports, the phone in question was a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, one of India’s most expensive phones. However, the cost he ultimately paid was far greater than the cost of his phone.

According to Indian media reports, the protagonist of this incident is Rajesh Vishwas, a 32-year-old food inspector who works in the Pakhanjore area of Kanker district in Chhattisgarh. At the time, Vishwas was picnicking with his friends near the Paralkot dam and was trying to take a selfie with his Galaxy S23 Ultra, which accidentally fell into the reservoir.

After local divers failed to find the phone, he did not give up and instead went to the irrigation department for help in retrieving his phone.

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To do this, he rented two 30-horsepower diesel pumps to extract water from the reservoir, each priced at 7,500 rupees (about 644 yuan). The initial report stated that about 2.1 million liters of water were extracted. However, a detailed investigation revealed that approximately 4.1 million liters of water were extracted. “I only used the water pump after the local divers found the phone on Tuesday and told me that the water level needed to be lowered by a few feet,” Vishwas argued.

After four days of pumping, the official found the phone, but it was unusable, and he lost his job. After the incident was exposed, another local official stated publicly, “He has been suspended pending an investigation. Water is an essential resource and should not be wasted like this.”

Meanwhile, Vishwas was asked to pay a water bill of 43,092 rupees and a fine of 10,000 rupees. The total amount is 53,092 rupees (approximately 4555 yuan in Chinese currency), and he has 10 days to repay.

RC Dhivar, a zoning officer of the Water Resources Department, also received a notice, believed to be approving the drainage. Dhivar was asked to respond why he agreed to the drainage without the permission of senior officials. In addition, some believe that he should be responsible for paying the drainage fee.

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