Media reported that Rajesh Vishwas dropped his Samsung phone into the dam while taking a selfie, adding that he ordered the dam to be emptied as his phone contained sensitive government data that needed to be retrieved.
The incident happened at Kharkata Dam in Chhattisgarh state in central India.
After taking 3 days to empty the dam of the water stored inside, Vishwas, who works for food inspection, discovered that his phone was broken and could not work after being submerged in water for a long period.
In the aftermath, Vishwas was suspended from his job, after being accused of abusing his position.
Vishwas said in a statement reported by Indian media that the pump was brought in after local divers failed to find the phone.
He pointed out that he had obtained verbal permission from an official to drain “some water into a nearby water channel”, explaining that the official said that “this will actually benefit the farmers who will get more water”.
Sources said nearly two million liters of water were released – enough to irrigate 6 square kilometers (600 hectares) of farmland.
Vishwas denied abusing his position and said the water drained came from the overflow part of the dam.
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