A leaked video shows J&K IAS officer Kumar Rajeev Ranjan abusing woman subordinate Beenish Wani during a Mission YUVA review meeting and threatening to suspend and dismiss her.
A leaked video shows J&K IAS officer Kumar Rajeev Ranjan abusing woman subordinate Beenish Wani during a meeting.
Srinagar,Oct 16, 2026 00:08 IST
A leaked video of a virtual administrative review meeting in Jammu and Kashmir has triggered widespread outrage after senior IAS officer Kumar Rajeev Ranjan hurled abuses at a woman subordinate, Beenish Wani, and threatened to have her suspended and dismissed from service.
The confrontation took place during a review meeting on Mission YUVA, the government’s youth empowerment scheme, and reportedly centred on the role of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) in carrying out departmental work.
The footage shows Ranjan repeatedly interrupting Wani as she attempted to explain her position, telling her to remain silent and using derogatory language against her.
“I can always talk to you like this. I am your boss, stupid,” Ranjan is heard saying in the video. He also called Wani “bloody sh*t” after she questioned his language.
Wani pushed back against the senior officer, saying he could not address her in such terms. She is also heard responding, “To hell with you,” as the confrontation escalated.
Ranjan subsequently directed officials in his office to prepare a suspension order against Wani and asked them to write to the General Administration Department (GAD) seeking her dismissal from service. He accused her of failing to deliver results and questioned why her department needed NRLM's assistance.
The incident has prompted condemnation from the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Services (JKAS) fraternity and political leaders, with demands for an impartial inquiry, accountability and protection for Wani against possible retaliatory action.
The video emerged from a meeting held on Wednesday to review the implementation of Mission YUVA, short for Mission Youth Upliftment and Vibrant Advancement. During the meeting, Ranjan, who was serving as Administrative Secretary in Jammu and Kashmir’s Labour and Employment Department, questioned the role of NRLM in carrying out work assigned to Wani’s office.
Wani, a 2015-batch JKAS officer serving as Assistant Director of the Employment and Counselling Centre in Ganderbal, attended the meeting through video conferencing. She was briefing officials on the targets achieved by her office when Ranjan questioned why another agency was involved in the work.
“Why do you need NRLM? If NRLM had to do this work, why would I give it to the Assistant Director? Why would the Chief Secretary give it to me? He would give it to the Managing Director of NRLM,” Ranjan said, according to the recording.
Wani attempted to explain that NRLM served as a supporting agency. However, Ranjan repeatedly interrupted her and asked her to stop speaking.
When Wani insisted that she needed an opportunity to explain her position and questioned his language, the exchange grew more heated.
“You are bloody shi*t! I can always talk to you like this,” Ranjan said.
“No, you cannot call me sh*t,” Wani replied.
Ranjan then asserted his authority, saying, “I am your boss, stupid.”
As the argument continued, he asked officials in his office to prepare a suspension order and record Wani’s remarks in it. He also directed them to write to the GAD seeking her dismissal.
“Immediately suspend her and write to the GAD that she should be thrown out of the service! Dismissed from the service!” he shouted.
He further said that no punishment more severe than dismissal was possible under civil services rules. Ranjan accused Wani of failing to deliver results and questioned her response during the meeting, alleging that she lacked the ability to do the work and had delivered nothing.
Wani responded to the confrontation by saying, “To hell with you.”
ILTIJA MUFTI DEMANDS SUSPENSION OF IAS OFFICER
PDP leader Iltija Mufti criticised Ranjan over the abuse and demanded immediate action against him.
In a post on X, Mufti condemned the language used against Wani and accused the authorities of allowing senior officials to exercise unchecked power over local officers.
“How dare you use such derogatory, demeaning language? Take your god complex and dirty slurs elsewhere. We won’t tolerate this in Kashmir,” she wrote.
Mufti also alleged that since 2019, Kashmiri Administrative Services officers and competent Kashmiri IAS officers had been deliberately sidelined. She claimed that a concerted effort was underway to undermine local officers in the administration and police, making them subordinate to officers from outside the region.
Addressing Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and the administration, she called for Ranjan’s immediate suspension.
“Decency demands this man be suspended immediately. You are quick to fire Kashmiri employees. Hope you use the same yardstick here,” she said.
JKAS FRATERNITY CONDEMNS ABUSE, SEEKS INQUIRY
The Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Services fraternity strongly condemned the verbal abuse and public humiliation of Wani, describing the incident as unacceptable conduct by a senior official.
The fraternity said that while it supported administrative accountability and performance monitoring, these principles could not justify abusive language, intimidation or behaviour that undermined the dignity of a serving officer.
It also disputed a subsequent departmental attempt to dismiss the circulating video as AI-generated or fabricated, asserting that Wani and other officials who attended the virtual meeting had confirmed its authenticity.
The fraternity said the matter raised wider concerns about accountability and professional ethics, particularly after the department's alleged attempt to dismiss the footage. It also alleged that the incident was not isolated and that Ranjan had a pattern of using unparliamentary and demeaning language in an official capacity.
The association called on Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo and the General Administration Department to order an impartial inquiry into both the incident and the subsequent departmental clarification.
It also urged the authorities to ensure that Wani faced no retaliatory action and to establish safeguards against workplace intimidation and the misuse of official authority.
The fraternity demanded a public apology from Ranjan and called for proceedings against him over the alleged misconduct and verbal abuse. It also sought action over what it described as the misuse of his office to issue a false statement.
The association stressed that administrative discipline must rest on mutual respect, fairness and accountability.
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