An Indian official who made global headlines after he drained a dam to retrieve his samsung phone, he dropped while taking a selfie has been fined by the government.

Rajesh Vishwas a food inspector has been ordered to pay £519 for pumping out millions of litres of water without seeking permission from the authorities.

He claimed the phone needed to be retrieved as it contained sensitive government data.

Several local divers tried to find the phone but couldn’t, so, he paid for a diesel pump to be brought in and pumped for several days, emptying out thousands of liters of water, but by the time the phone was found, it was too waterlogged to work.

He reportedly lied that he had verbal permission from the authorities saying draining the dam “would in fact benefit the farmers who would have more water”.

This has now seen Mr. Vishwas suspended from his post and charged by the government.