IPS officer shares private photos of IAS officer on social media, Karnataka Home Minister warns of action

On Sunday, February 19th, 2023, D Roopa Moudgil, an IPS officer, took to social media to share private photos of IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri, accusing her of breaking the rules of service conduct by sending them to male IAS officers. The incident has caused surprise and concern among many in the Karnataka administration.

D Roopa had previously issued a long list of corruption allegations against Ms. Sindhuri. She also approached Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma with her concerns. In response, Ms. Sindhuri accused D Roopa of waging a “false, personal vilification campaign” against her and warned her of legal action.

On Monday, February 20th, Karnataka's Home Minister Araga Jnanendra termed the behavior of the two officers as bad and warned them of action. He stated that he had talked about the incident with the chief of police and that the Chief Minister was also aware of it. The Home Minister said, “We are not sitting quiet, action will be taken against them. They both are behaving in such a bad way – not even normal people speak on the streets like this. Let them do whatever they want on their personal issues, but coming before the media and behaving the way they are is not right.”

Ms. Sindhuri, who is the Commissioner of the Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment Department, and D Roopa, who is the Managing Director of the Karnataka Handicrafts Development Corporation, had previously clashed in public over corruption allegations when Ms. Sindhuri was appointed in Mysuru in 2021. The recent conflict was sparked by images of Ms. Sindhuri dining with Janata Dal (Secular) Legislator Sa Ra Mahesh in a restaurant.