Against all odds: Visually impaired UP officer, shot 7 times by mafia, clears UPSC exam

From getting attacked for his honesty to being sent to a mental asylum, 40-year-old Rinku Rahee overcame every challenge life had thrown at him to clear the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination. After exposing an alleged Rs 100-crore scholarship scam, the 2007-batch Provincial Civil Service (PCS) officer lost his eye sight and hearing abilities as he came under attack from the mafia.

However, that didn’t deter him from his goal of clearing UPSC. With only one eye, a hearing disability and a broken jaw, Rahee cracked one of the world’s toughest examinations, UPSC. Looking at Rahee overcoming every adversity, some would call it life. After securing 683rd rank in UPSC, Rahee told news agency PTI that the life-threatening attack on him happened when he was posted in Muzaffarnagar as a social welfare officer and was only 26.

However, the struggle didn’t just stop with the attack. In what he calls as a punishment posting, Rahee was transferred to an IAS/PCS coaching centre in Hapur. He alleged that he was even put in a mental asylum by his seniors

“I exposed an over Rs 100-crore scholarship scam in the district. I had informed the directorate about it and some days later, I was attacked in which I sustained seven bullet injuries,” Rahee was quoted as saying by news agency.

Speaking about the life-long damages he had suffered as a result of the attack, Rahee said, “I had to undergo surgery on my mouth. My eyesight in one eye has almost gone. I cannot hear from one ear. One side of my jaw was completely damaged. But I somehow survived.”

“I exposed an over Rs 100-crore scholarship scam in the district. I had informed the directorate about it and some days later, I was attacked in which I sustained seven bullet injuries,” he said.

Rahee even claimed that a top-placed social welfare officer had called him to get “a work done from me and even threatened to suspend me”. Rahee added that he kept on being punished for his honesty.

“In my present posting, the government has charge-sheeted me twice. When I was shot, there was a BSP government in the state. In the SP regime, I was sent to a mental asylum, and I was suspended in the BJP regime,” Rahee said.

Expressing concerns over his 8-year-old son, Rahee felt that many times he felt that his son’s life would be in danger, if he would report bribes. He also added that in case anything happens to him in the future, he has insured himself so that his son wouldn’t suffer.

“It is a gift for my honesty that even after sustaining seven bullet wounds, I am alive and in front of you. Among the seven bullets, three pierced my face,” Rahee added.