Pradip R Sagar By

NEW DELHI: More people died taking selfies in India than anywhere else in the world in 2015, claims a recent media report. There is another side to the Indian selfie craze; careless selfies can not only cost you your life, but can also haunt you for the rest of your life.

A freshly promoted scientist of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, the country’s premier defence research agency, had to face the ignominy of being demoted because of his “selfie craze”.

The scientist was so happy and proud of his new position that he clicked several selfies with his new chair, table, office and the view from his office window and posted them on his Facebook wall.

Only when vigilance officials landed at his doorstep did he realise that the highly sensitive defence installation was not the right place to explore one’s enthusiasm for selfies. Sushil Kumar, involved in key projects such as development of the Akash and Nag missiles, was appointed Director, Material Management, at the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s headquarters in Delhi last month after years of service in the Solid State Physics Laboratory, a Delhi-based lab of the premier agency.

Vigilance officials seized his smartphone and directed him to immediately remove his selfies from social media. He was stripped of his position and sent back to the laboratory he was earlier working in.

“How was an officer who does not know the ground rules of a defence organisation selected for the key post?” asked a Defence Research and Development Organisation official.