An Indian government official was suspended after pumping water from a complete dam to retrieve his Samsung phone, which had fallen into the reservoir while he was snapping a selfie.

According to the BBC, Rajesh Vishwas, a food inspector, threw his $1,200 (100,000 rupees) Samsung phone into Kherkatta Dam in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh on Sunday.

He stated that the handset carried critical government data, prompting the bizarre decision to drain the dam to rescue it at any cost.

He claimed to have sought authorization from a superior officer before hiring a diesel pump operator to pump away an estimated two million litres (440,000 gallons) of water - enough to irrigate six sq km (600 hectares) of fields.


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However, Rajesh's acts sparked outrage, drawing the attention of the water resource department. An agency officer came to the scene and ordered the draining exercise to be stopped.

The national vice-president of the Chhattisgarh State opposition BJP party, upset by the development, took to Twitter to protest Rajesh's move, which is considered an abuse of power.

"At a time when people rely on tankers for water during the scorching summers," the legislator wrote, "the officer has drained 41 lakh litres that could have been used for agr purposes on 1,500 acres of land."

Meanwhile, Kanker district officer Priyanka Shukla informed The National newspaper that Rajesh had been suspended and is under investigation.


The dissatisfied official has denied intentionally misusing his power and wasting water, claiming that the area of the dam he emptied was unusable.