Officer's action snowballed into a major issue after convict Sajjad Mogul went missing
Following uproar over convict Sajjad Mogul jumping parole, the home department on Thursday suspended then superintendent and acting DIG of Nashik jail JS Naik for approving his parole and then recommending an extension.
Highly placed sources told dna that the file pertaining to the suspension was signed by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis late on Thursday evening. The decision, however, was taken early in the day at a meeting of senior home and prison department officials, including additional home secretary Vijay Satbir Singh and additional director general (prison) BK Upadhyay.
Mogul, who was serving life sentence at Nashik Central Jail in the sensational Pallavi Purkayastha murder case of Mumbai, went missing after he was out on parole in February.
On Wednesday, DIG (prisons) Rajendra Dhamne had sent his report against Naik, saying that he and his men should have shown more prudence while recommending parole for Mogul. Dhamne, who is also the investigating officer in the case, said Naik should have carefully scrutinised the parole application before recommending it.
Besides, the department has asked the Mumbai police to send another team to J&K to look for Mogul. Earlier this week, the Nashik police had sent a team to find Mogul after the case was highlighted by media.
This, however, is not the first time Naik came under the department's scanner. The suspended officer was already facing a departmental inquiry for unlawfully allowing furlough to two convicts serving their terms under terrorism-related charges. Both the convicts escaped during the furlough period. As per law, a furlough is not allowed to convicts serving term for acts related to terrorism.
What made the case worse is that the second convict, Ravi Dhiren Ghosh, was released on furlough for eight months, when the first convict to be released, Nuruddin Islam, was already on the run.
While Islam, who was given furlough in June 2014, is still at large, Ghosh, who was let out on furlough in February this year, surrendered in August within a few days of the accused jailer's role coming under the scanner.
The matter came to the notice of the home department only when the National Investigation Agency (NIA), through a letter in June, raised an alarm. The department then called for a report from the Nashik prison. In the last week of August, it recommended an inquiry against Naik and a clerk, who were prime facie found responsible.
Islam and Ghosh along with four others were convicted by a special NIA court in January 2014 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) that defines printing and distribution of fake currency as a terror activity.
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