‘Dekh lenge’: Activist booked for ‘abusing, threatening’ Uttarakhand Energy Secy; IAS association urges CM to take action

In a complaint to Dehradun SSP Ajay Singh, Senior Personal Secretary (Department of Energy) Kapil Kumar said that on Wednesday evening, Bobby Panwar came to meet Meenakshi Sundaram at the Uttarakhand Secretariat.

“When the said person was called to the Secretary’s room for a meeting, he behaved very badly in front of the Secretary and abused, intimidated and threatened to kill the Secretary. During this, the Secretary called us (Kapil Kumar, Senior Private Secretary and Anoop Dangwal, Additional Private Secretary) and instructed us to send him out. But the said person pushed, manhandled and beat us in front of the Secretary and obstructed government work,” the complaint said.

The complaint also alleged that the accused threatened them by saying, “Dekh lenge (will see you) outside the Secretariat, due to which we fear loss of life and property. If in future anything untoward happens to the Secretary or us, the said person named Bobby Panwar will be completely responsible for it.”

The FIR was registered under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 351(3) (criminal intimidation), 121(1) (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to deter public servant from duty), 132 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty), 221 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions).

Denying the allegations raised in the complaint, Bobby Panwar said, “I went to meet Meenakshi Sundaram asking about a demand for investigation against the Energy Department MD that I had submitted a month ago. I asked him to tell me the development in the case, to which he said he does not have any information. I asked him to provide me with the letter for that officer’s service extension. He said he cannot give it to just anyone. We then had a heated argument. The other allegations are false.”

In October, MD, Uttrakhand Power Corporation Ltd (UPCL), Anil Yadav, was given a two-year extension. The extension came amid allegations made by many, including Suraj Seva Dal state president Ramesh Joshi, of corruption in the department.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Bobby Panwar (26), president of Uttarakhand Berozgar Sangh, contested from the Tehri seat as an Independent candidate and registered over 1.6 lakh votes, springing a big surprise with his performance.

BJP’s Mala Raj Lakshmi Shah won the Tehri seat, securing 4.62 lakh votes, and Congress’s Jot Singh Gunsola, who got 1.90 lakh votes, came in second. Panwar came in third.

The Uttarakhand IAS Association has strongly condemned Wednesday’s incident.

“The IAS Association demands strict action against those involved in this incident to prevent such incidents in future. We stand in solidarity with Sundaram and his office staff and appeal to the Government and law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety and dignity of all public servants so that they can perform their duties without any fear,” the association said in a statement.

On Thursday, officials of the association met the CM and discussed various subjects, and  also sought legal action in connection with Wednesday’s incident. According to the Chief Minister’s Office, the IAS Association requested the CM to ensure a safe working system in the government, and for special attention to be paid to the safety of officers working at the ground level as well as Secretariat employees.