Indian government official who claims to be ‘Vishnu incarnate’ threatens divine wrath in bonus row

Rameshchandra Fefar claims India has been getting good rainfall for years because of him

File: Water gushes out of Sardar Sarovar Narmada dam, some 200 km from Indian city of Ahmedabad, on 17 September, 2019 (AFP via Getty Images)

A former government employee in India, who claims to be the tenth incarnation of Hindu god Vishnu, has threatened to use his “divine powers” to inflict severe drought upon the earth if his bonus and pending salary are not released.

Rameshchandra Fefar, who worked as an engineer in Gujarat state's water resources department, was given a pre-mature retirement because of his absence from office.

He was served a show-cause notice in 2018 for attending office only 16 days in eight months. Replying to the notice, he had claimed that he couldn’t come to work because he was actually an reincarnation of Lord Vishnu.

He said he was undergoing a “penance by entering the fifth dimension to change global conscience.”

He has now written to the secretary in department saying “demons sitting in the government” are withholding his “Rs 16 lakh (£15,531) gratuity and another Rs 16 lakh as the salary for one year,” according to news agency Press Trust of India.

He has warned that he will bring a severe drought upon the earth for the “harassment.”

Mr Fefar had earlier said that he “realised” he is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu back in 2010. He claimed he has had divine powers since then. He had also said that India was getting good rainfall for years because of his penance.

He was posted as the superintending engineer with the Sardar Sarovar Punarvasvat Agency under the water resources department. The agency looks after the resettlement and rehabilitation of the families affected by the Sardar Sarovar project which is one of the biggest irrigation and power projects in India.

Rubbishing Mr Fefar’s claims and saying that he was “full of nonsense,” water resources secretary MK Jadav confirmed to PTI that he has received the letter and his gratuity was under process.

He said an inquiry was conducted when Mr Ferar made the incarnation claim and the government even approved his premature retirement as a special case, “considering his mental condition.”