KOLLAM: Kollam Sub-Collector Anupam Mishra was suspended from service on Friday for violating Covid-19 quarantine norms in the state and fleeing to Uttar Pradesh without informing the officials concerned. The suspension order was issued based on a report by Kollam District Collector B Abdul Nassar which stated that the sub-collector’s action was ‘irresponsible’. The Kollam West police have also registered a case against the officer for the same.
Mishra, who was on leave after his wedding, reached the district after a vacation in Singapore on March 18. When he reached his office to rejoin duty the following day, he was asked to self-quarantine as a precautionary measure. But health officials, during their routine inspection later, found that he was not present at his official residence.
When the district collector contacted him to check on him, Mishra replied he was in Bengaluru with his brother who is a doctor. However, the police said Mishra’s mobile phone tower location showed Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Mishra also stated he had left the district on the very same day he was asked to go in quarantine.
“Mishra didn’t show any Covid symptoms, but he left the state without informing us when the protocol insists that he has to be quarantined here for at least 14 days. When an officer leaves his jurisdiction, he’s supposed to inform the government. He hadn’t taken prior permission for leaving the state either. It’s a serious matter,” said the collector, who had submitted the report to Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan and recommended action against Mishra.
He has been asked to provide his current address and travel details, he added. The state government has sought an explanation from the officer. According to the police, a case has been registered against him under various sections of the IPC including 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 271 (disobedience to quarantine rule).
Mishra had courted controversies before as well.
The 2016 batch civil servant attempted to obtain a licence to own a pistol using the address of the Government Guest House in Thiruvananthapuram. The address was furnished as that of his father. The then district collector K Vasuki intervened to put the licence on hold. Mishra also availed of loans in the name of his driver and failed to repay them, a source said.