Indian officer drains a dam to find his phone while clicking a selfie 

An Indian officer who made headlines after he emptied a dam to recover his phone has been penalised by the government.

Rajesh Vishwas, an Indian officer, has been instructed to pay 53,092 rupees ($642; £519) for draining out millions of litres of water without approval from authorities.

He had fallen the device while clicking a selfie and claimed it required retrieving as it had sensitive government information. But he has been charged with misusing his position.

The food inspector dropped his Samsung cell, worth nearly 100,000 rupees, into the Kherkatta Dam in the major Indian state of Chhattisgarh last week.

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After regional divers couldn’t find the cell, he spent for a diesel pump to be brought in, Mr Vishwas said in a video message quoted in the media. The pump ran for several days, draining thousands of litres of water, but it was too wet to work when the phone was discovered.

At the time, Mr Vishwas had told the press that he had verbal approval from an officer to empty “some water into a nearby canal”, continuing that the officer said it “would benefit the growers who would have more water”.

But the authorities suspended Mr Vishwas from his position over the happening. And a few days ago, the state irrigation unit sent him a letter fining him for his actions.