Nagpur: The Maharashtra Prison Department has recommended suspension of Swati Sathe, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), prisons, for dereliction of duty and going on leave without following due procedure during the ongoing pandemic. The State Government is yet to take a decision on the matter.
Sunil Ramanand, Additional Director General of Police, Prisons, on August 10 sent a letter to Sanjay Chahande, Additional Chief Secretary (Prisons), recommending Sathe’s suspension.
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Sathe was posted as DIG headquarters in Pune and was transferred as DIG Prisons (east region) in Nagpur on June 15. However, she did not join duty immediately during the pandemic when a number of Covid-19 positive cases were being reported from various jails. On July 4, as many as 42 prisoners and 56 jail staffers tested positive for Covid-19 in the Nagpur jail. Anil Deshmukh, State Home Minister, and Ramanand had visited the Nagpur jail, but Sathe had till then not joined duty as DIG in Nagpur.
Ramanand wrote a letter to Sathe on July 6 asking her to resume duty immediately. On July 13, Sathe joined duty as DIG (east region). Sources further said that on August 7, Sathe sought leave and proceeded on leave without getting it sanctioned from senior officials. Sathe had allegedly showed open defiance to the transfer order and not resumed office for a long time even during the pandemic and ran away from her job in complete dereliction of duty.
On August 11, Deepak Pandey, Inspector General of Police (Prisons), summoned Sathe, asking her to appear before him to record her statement related to her leave. Sathe joined duty the same day.
Despite several attempts, Sathe could not be reached for comments.
