Chennai: Two tahsildars exchanged blows making a sorry sight for public at the Pallavaram municipal office building in Chromepet on Thursday. Work was affected for the day at the Pallavaram Tahsildar’s office due to the ruckus created by the two government staff.
While no official police complaint has been filed by either parties, the proceedings were caught on mobile phone cameras by the public who were present and broadcast them via social media.
Police sources said the brawl broke out between Velachery special Tahsildar for urban land tax, Kumaran (52) and Pallavaram Tahsildar, Wilbert Kitching (57) when the former approached the latter seeking clarification for a delay in providing a document.
Kumaran is a resident of Nehru Nagar in Chromepet. Kumaran had introduced himself as a tahsildar and while enquiring about the delay in providing a document, had reportedly asked Wilbert if he expects something more other than procedure, police sources said.
To this, the Pallavaram tahsildar had retorted asking if he is a broker, which led to a verbal duel between the two. It soon escalated into a brawl and the two revenue officials exchanged blows.
The staff who were unaware that Kumaran was also a government staff joined the Pallavaram Tahsildar and reportedly attacked Kumaran. Both the tahsildars suffered minor injuries in the brawl and got themselves admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital for treatment. Tambaram Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) C. Chandrasekhar and police officers rushed to the scene to pacify the situation.
The RDO conducted enquiries with both the tahsildars individually and also with other staff in the municipal office. “A departmental enquiry has been initiated and a report would be submitted to the district collector,” the RDO told the mediapersons gathered there.
Work was affected in the municipal office due to the fracas on Thursday. “We have not received any written complaint from those involved. We rushed to the scene based on information from the public,” said a police officer.
