Shot, sidelined, shunted: UP IAS officer transferred 36 hours after sit-ups video goes viral; says 'won't stop doing what's right'

Time of India

21 hours ago

BAREILLY: An IAS officer, who once survived seven bullets after exposing a Rs 100-crore scam, was transferred within 36 hours of taking charge as sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) in Shahjahanpur's Powayan.
The move came on Monday, hours after Rinku Singh Rahi hit the headlines once again - this time for performing sit-ups before a group of lawyers and cancelling two unpublicised land auctions.
A video of the "uthak-baithak" was shared on social media. Rahi believes it may have cost him the post. Shahjahanpur DM Dharmendra Pratap Singh, however, told TOI, "Rahi's transfer was initiated by the state govt and I have no idea about the precise reason behind it."
The auctions involved rights to village fish ponds and cattle shed land in Simra Viran. They were scheduled without public announcements, he said, a technical omission that could prevent fair bidding. "More people deserve the chance to participate in such auctions. My decision may have upset some people," Rahi, a 2022 batch IAS officer, said.
On the same day, he directed revenue officers to identify encroachments on govt land and issue notices.
"If no notice is issued within 15 days, an FIR will be filed against the lekhpal concerned," he warned. He also planned to digitise tehsil-level records, including court proceedings and document submissions. "People shouldn't have to file RTIs to get basic information," he said.
After landing in the town for his latest posting, he proposed creating two WhatsApp groups in every village - one to allow residents to report absentee officials, and another to post complaints and their responses openly.
"I had already done this in Mathura as a provincial civil services officer. This is not innovation. This is basic administration."
But it was the sit-ups on Monday that drew public attention. After asking a clerk to do sit-ups for urinating in the open, Rahi himself performed sit-ups in front of lawyers at the tehsil premises after they pointed out filthy public toilets. "I took responsibility because I was the senior-most officer.
If seniors lead by example, systems improve," he said. Asked whether the video led to his transfer, he said, "Could be.
"
He added: "I will serve wherever I'm posted. I'll not tolerate wrongdoing."
In 2008, as a provincial civil service officer in Muzaffarnagar, he exposed irregular transfers of social welfare funds. "When I refused bribes and kept digging, I was warned," he said. On March 26, 2009, while playing badminton, he was shot in the face.
The attack left him blind in one eye, with a bullet fragment lodged in his skull. "I lost everything except the will to fight," he said.
Four years later, in 2012, after being denied promotion, he staged a dharna outside the social welfare directorate in Lucknow. Police forcibly admitted him to a psychiatric facility. A decade later, he cleared the UPSC exam under the physically challenged category at age 40, secured all-India rank 683, and joined the 2022-batch IAS under the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) quota, UP cadre.
His tenure in Shahjahanpur lasted less than two days. His plans, he said, were simple: open the system to scrutiny, restore accountability, and make governance participatory.