UP officer, suspended over Osama Bin Laden's photo in office, calls terrorist his 'guru'

Farrukhabad: A sub-divisional officer of the Uttar Pradesh Electricity department remained defiant on his views on Osama Bin Laden despite getting suspended for hanging his photograph in his office. The officer, Ravindra Kumar Gautam, whose picture frame calling the slain terrorist World's Best Engineer went viral, called him his guru. 

The incident took place in Farrukhabad's Nawabganj. Gautam said it was his choice to ideolise whoever he wanted and that he would hang another photo of Osama Bin Laden. "I consider Osama bin Laden my 'guru'. If the photo is removed, I will arrange another and hang it again. Everyone is free to choose his ideal," he said.

Farrukhabad District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Singh had written to the state government after which Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Limited's Managing Director Amit Kishore suspended Gautam saying his act tarnished the image of the department. He also said the act was in violation of the department's service rule.

It is reported that none of the dozens of employees at the office raised an objection to Osama Bin Laden's photo.

A committee has been formed to probe the matter.

Osama Bin Laden, an engineer by education, was one of the world's most dreaded terrorists. He was behind the 9/11 World Trade Centre attack in New York. In 2011, the United States special forces tracked, ambushed and killed Laden in Pakistan's Abbottabad.

With inputs from IANS