Senior IAS, IPS officers D Roopa, Rohini Sindhuri fight in public; Karnataka govt warns of action

BENGALURU: As senior bureaucrats D Roopa (IPS) and Rohini Sindhuri (IAS) continue to wash their dirty linen in public causing huge embarrassment to the state government, Karnataka's chief secretary, on the direction of CM Basavaraj Bommai, on Monday summoned the duo and warned them of stern action if they continue to violate civil service rules.Bommai resorted to damage control as his government has been facing flak for not being able to rein in the two women officers indulging in public slugfest over personal issues since Saturday. It forced home minister Araga Jnanendra and Union minister Prahlad Joshi to express strong displeasure over such unbecoming behaviour.Earlier in the day, minister Jnanendra threatened action, citing service rule violations. He said, "We're not sitting quiet; we'll take action against them. Both are behaving in such a bad way. Even normal people don't speak like that on the streets..."Officers' conduct bringing disrepute to their ilk: Min The home minister said: "...Let them do whatever they want on their personal issues, but coming before the media and behaving in this way is not right," The minister said the people hold IAS and IPS officers in high esteem. However, with their behaviour and conduct, these two officers are causing disrespect and humiliation to other civil service officers. "We've good officials of high ranking and they run the state and the country. A few people are bringing a bad name to the whole of the official class. They must be punished. I've spoken to the DGP and CM on this," he added."The chief secretary has already taken action in this regard. She called them and gave directions to both in writing and orally to follow civil servants' conduct rules. The two officers have given their versions in writing and said they will maintain discipline. I'm confident they will do that," CM Bommai said.How it all startedThe ugly and highly personal spat between Roopa, MD of Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation, and Rohini Sindhuri, muzrai department commissioner, started on Saturday after Roopa shared pictures of Rohini on social media and alleged that she had shared the same with several male IAS officers and violated service conduct rules. Terming the allegations "baseless", Sindhuri said the screenshots of social-media posts and WhatsApp status were falsely used to scandalize her. Roopa on Monday upped the ante, posting WhatsApp screenshots of deleted photos with a reply of 'madly, madly, beautiful' on social media and wrote: "Can an IAS officer send nude, naked pictures? What was the reason these pictures were sent? For a compromise? Or is it to prevent action against her in a case where allegations were proven in a preliminary inquiry? She should answer."The two officers met chief secretary Vandita Sharma and submitted a formal complaint, accusing each other of violating civil services conduct rules. In her letter to Sharma, Roopa sought swift action against Sindhuri for alleged past misdemeanours.Sindhuri, in her letter, said: "I request that if this type of anarchical behaviour does not violate the rule of law, it be thrown to the wolves and a public trial... based on personal vendetta become the order of the day."Sindhuri's husband Sudhir Reddy filed a complaint with Bagalagunte police in north Bengaluru, seeking action against Roopa for her posts. Police have not registered the case yet. "We've forwarded the complaint to the higher-ups for legal opinion. Based on their direction, we'll decide the next step," a senior cop told TOI.