Thiruvananthapuram: A junior IAS officer, Anupam Mishra, who was recommended self-isolation in the wake of his recent foreign travel, avoided his quarantine and was later traced to his home in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur city. He has been suspended from service.
Kollam District Collector B. Abdul Nassar on Friday morning submitted his report to the government and Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekheran recommended action to the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Later Vijayan, who is head of all civil service officials, suspended Mishra from service.
Mishra, a 2016 batch IAS officer, recently came to Kollam to take up the charge of Sub Collector. He informed his superior that he had been abroad and was asked to go for self-isolation at his official residence in Kollam, about 70 km from the state capital.
Nassar told the media on Friday that Mishra in his explanation has said that when he was told to go into self-isolation, he presumed it meant going to his residence in Sultanpur.
“This is a violation of protocol. I will submit the report of his act to the state government, who is authorised to take further action,” said Nassar.
State Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty, who hails from Kollam district, said this is a clear case of a lack of social commitment.
According to reports, Mishra got married recently and had returned from Singapore/Malaysia. On Thursday, the officials found out that he was not present in his official residence at Kollam. He was traced with the help of police to UP’s Sitapur.
He left Kerala a day before the lockdown was announced, sources added.
Mishra is in touch with the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police of Sultanpur. They are monitoring his health status and got his swab tested again. The report is awaited, sources said.
Two different set of charges will be slapped against the officer — one for escaping from isolation and the other for violating departmental rules, as he left his home station without informing his superior, government sources said in Thiruvananthapuram.
Prasanta Patnaik