West Bengal IAS officer Nikhil Nirmal, who was caught on camera thrashing youth, sent on leave

KOLKATA: A day after a video surfaced showing an IAS officer from West Bengal, Nikhil Nirmal, beating up a youth mercilessly, the government has sent him on leave.

Nirmal, the district magistrate of Alipurduar district, has been sent on leave till January 16, said reports. 

Additional District Magistrate (Dev) Chiranjb Ghosh will now hold additional charge of the DM till be joins back.

The viral video showed Nirmal and his wife beating up a local youth inside the Falakata police station and in presence of the inspector-in-charge Soumyajit Ray.

According to sources in the police, the youth had made some lewd comments on Nirmal’s wife’s Facebook profile. Soon, he was summoned to the police station and the duo was seen beating him up in black and blue.

Surprisingly, the Nirmal is heard saying in the video, “I will not let you do anything against me in my district. I will enter your house and kill you.”

The husband and wife duo took turns to beat him. Nirmal’s wife is heard asking the youth, “At who’s behest did you make such comments?”

While the youth pleaded for mercy, the duo continued beating him up.

Interestingly, the entire episode unfolded at the police station without the district magistrate or his wife filing any official complaint till the time he was being beaten up.

On the other hand, the assaulted local identified as Vinod Sarkar who was arrested later was granted bail by the local court on a personal bond of Rs. 1,000.