Toxic liquid passed off as water served in Puducherry Collectorate; Police complaint lodged

A bottle of drinking water served at a meeting attended by the District Collector and others allegedly contained colourless toxic liquid, following which a complaint was lodged with the police on Thursday seeking a probe. However, no one at the meeting consumed the substance passed off as water, officials said.

Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi sent acopy of the complaint she received from the Collectorate to the media with the remark: "This is shocking." Collector Purva Garg held the official meeting in her chamber on Wednesday and the water bottle was supplied at the meeting by a personal staff member in her office.

The Collector found the bottle had colourless toxic liquid instead of water and directed her office to file a complaint with the police. The Special Officer in the collectorate lodged the complaint along with the one litre plasticbottle containing packaged drinking water and sought an inquiry. The complaint stated that the office of the District Magistrate is a public dealing office (and) such incident evokes suspicion with respect to the authority of the office and also poses personal threat to the officer concerned.