Rubbing salt into their wounds, a district Collector in Rajasthan allegedly warned farmers against "speaking too much" when they approached him for compensation for damage to their crops by unseasonal rain and hailstorm.
"Zyada bolne ki zaroorat nahi hai...Ab tak jail mein daal deta tumko. (Don't speak too much. By now I would have put you behind bars)," the Collector of Sri Ganganagar, P C Kishan, was caught saying on camera when a group of farmers met him to seek compensation in his chamber yesterday.
The farmers wanted to submit a represention to Kishan, a 2005 batch IAS officer.
When contacted the top district official admitted damage to crops in the districts of Rajasthan and said a large number of farmers were submitting memoranda to him for compensation.
He, however, denied he had misbehaved with any farmer who came to seek compensation.
"Many farmers are coming to me and demanding compensation. I am treating them nicely and did not threaten any farmer," he told PTI by phone.
When told about the video clip in which he is seen warning a farmer "not to speak much", the officer cut short the conversation, saying he was on law and order duty in Suratgarh and had nothing more to say.
