‘Sit-Ups Are Not My Punishment, Being Dalit Is': UP Officer Who Took Bullets For Exposing Corruption Shunted Out In Hours After Humble Gesture Went Viral

India.com

5 days ago

Lucknow: At Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, a new officer's first day turned into his last before the clock even reset. Rinku Singh Rahi, a 2022-batch IAS officer who once took seven bullets for exposing corruption, was transferred within 24 hours of joining as sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Puwayan, not for corruption, not for dereliction of duty, but for making sit-ups in front of protesting lawyers.
Rahi had reported for duty at 2 pm on July 29. Hours later, he was out and reassigned to the Board of Revenue in Lucknow after a video of him performing sit-ups and ears held in penance went viral on social media. Done in front of a crowd of protesting lawyers, the act drew applause criticism, and ultimately, resulted into a transfer order.
A Warning Turned Public Protest
The chain of events began as Rahi toured the tehsil premises shortly after taking charge. During the inspection, he saw a man urinating on a wall inside the complex. The man, Vijay, a 38-year-old clerk working for local lawyer Ajnyaram, was confronted. He was asked to use a toilet. The clerk responded that the toilets were unusable.
Caught red handed, Rahi ordered him to do sit-ups, not as punishment, he later said, but as a lesson in discipline and hygiene.
Word of the reprimand reached a group of lawyers who were already gathered for a sit-in protest. The act, they argued, was humiliating. Voices were raised. Questions were fired.
'If the toilets are in such deplorable condition, where should lawyers and their clerks go?' one lawyer asked. Others joined in, demanding fairness and accountability from the administration too.
They asked the SDM to take the same punishment. He did not flinch.
'I Will Also Not Urinate in the Open'
'There is no shame in admitting mistakes. If I expect others to follow the rules, I too must follow them,' Rahi said, facing the crowd.
He bent down, held his ears and did five sit-ups in front of lawyers and their clerks.
'I will also not urinate in the open. The poor condition of the toilets is indeed a failure of the administration. I assure you that sanitation here will be improved without delay,' he assured.
In UP's Shahjahanpur, IAS officer Rinku Singh was made to do sit-ups by protesting lawyers on his first day of posting as SDM. The lawyers were upset because he raised concerns about the dirty and unhygienic condition of the tehsil premises | Watch#IASRinkuSinghRahi pic.twitter.com/zY8vaE6qUi — The Tatva (@thetatvaindia) July 30, 2025
Some tried to dissuade him. He completed the sit-ups anyway. He called it symbolic a gesture to accept responsibility and a vow to do better.
Transfer Comes Before Sunset
As the video circulated online, opinions split sharply. While some praised Rahi's humility and transparency, others saw it as a breach of administrative protocol and a breakdown of decorum.
By evening, he was relieved of his post. The UP government issued transfer orders. One of the shortest tenures for an SDM in living memory was over.
Shahjahanpur ADM (Administration) Rajneesh Mishra confirmed the decision. 'The SDM's sit-up incident with the lawyers has come to our notice. ADM (Judicial) Rashid Ali Khan has been sent to speak to both sides. Only after discussions will the next course of action be decided,' he said.
A Life of Bullets, Scars and Integrity
Rahi's name is not unknown in UP bureaucratic circles. His past reads like a political thriller.
He grew up in Hathras, studied in government schools, earned his B.Tech from Jamshedpur in Jharkhand through scholarships and passed the UP Provincial Civil Services (PCS) exam in 2004. In 2008, while posted as District Social Welfare Officer in Muzaffarnagar, he unearthed a Rs 100-crore scam in pensions and scholarships.
On March 26, 2009, while playing badminton with a colleague, two men opened fire. Seven bullets hit him – two in the face. He lost sight in one eye. One ear went deaf. His jaw was shattered. He barely survived.
He spent a month in a Meerut hospital. Surgeries followed. So did silence from authorities.
Hunger Strikes, Police Custody, UPSC Comeback
He did not stop. He filed RTIs. He protested. In 2012, he went on a hunger strike outside the Lucknow Directorate, demanding justice. The police picked him up and took him to a mental hospital.
Years passed. He returned to books. At 40, he attempted the prestigious Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination under the disability quota, cleared it in 2021 with All India Rank (AIR) 683 and became an IAS officer.
He joined service with scars still visible, not only on his body, but in the way systems had treated him.
'Sit-Ups Are Not My Punishment, Being Dalit Is'
After Tuesday's viral episode, Rahi described what unfolded. 'The clerk openly said he would not use the toilet. I made him do sit-ups so he would learn a lesson. But when the lawyers asked me to do the same, I agreed willingly,' he said.
'Doing sit-ups is not the real issue. The bigger challenge is being a Dalit. That is a punishment I live with every day,' he alleged.
He said he never intended to insult the clerk. His aim, he insisted, was to improve hygiene and discipline. Toilets would be cleaned. Facilities upgraded. That promise, he said, stands with or without a post.
Now, questions swirl over whether Rahi's gesture was a mark of rare integrity or a compromise that shook bureaucratic credibility. Either way, a man who once took bullets for truth has again taken a fall, not for dishonesty, but for honesty displayed without filters.
And once again, he walks away alone.