BHUBANESWAR/CUTTACK: The Odisha government on Sunday removed senior IPS officer Susanta Nath as director general of prisons after a woman jailor accused him of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation.
The 1993-batch IPS officer, who was in the race for the post of DGP, has now been posted as officer on special duty (OSD) in the Home department.
The action came a day after Santoshini Dash, former jailor of Choudwar Circle Jail, lodged a complaint against Nath and his friend Kuldeep Ratha.
In her three-page complaint, Dash alleged that Nath had been targeting her ever since she lodged an FIR against the then superintendent of Choudwar Jail, Sujit Kumar Raula, for allegedly forging her signature and manipulating official records to derail the investigation into a high-profile prison break that occurred in October last year at the same prison.
In her FIR lodged at Choudwar police station, she alleged that even before the jailbreak, Nath had been making sexual advances through his friend. In July 2025, Nath allegedly asked her to facilitate Ratha’s visit to the jail. Ratha took her mobile phone number during the visit and later started sending her suggestive emojis, the complaint stated.
Dash also alleged that Ratha tried to arrange private meetings between her and Nath at hotels in Cuttack on two occasions in August and September last year, which she declined. Subsequently, Nath allegedly targeted her by placing her under suspension, withholding her medical leave, stopping her salary and initiating five departmental proceedings over the jailbreak incident, she said.
The complaint stated that Nath contacted her again in September this year and asked her to meet him at his office. During the meeting, he allegedly told the jailor that the departmental proceedings had been initiated because she had refused to meet him and had lodged a complaint against Raula. “If you had come to meet me, you wouldn’t have faced all this,” the complaint quoted Nath as saying.
During her suspension, the DG (Prisons) allegedly stopped her subsistence allowance, which she described as her constitutional right and a legal obligation of the department, the complaint stated.
Choudwar police have registered a case against Nath and Ratha under sections 75(2) (sexual harassment), 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and 3(5) (common intention) and launched an investigation.
On October 2, 2025, during Durga Puja, two high-risk inmates escaped from Choudwar jail, following which Dash was transferred to Kantabanji sub-jail.
She was later suspended in February for alleged misconduct and dereliction of duty.
In the intervening period, she lodged a police complaint on January 17 against Choudwar Jail senior superintendent Raula, alleging that he had remained absent without authorisation and reported for duty only after the jailbreak. Cuttack police arrested Raula in early September for allegedly manipulating prison records.
Nath was among the first three officers whose names were recommended by the state government to the Union Public Service Commission for the panel for appointment as DGP. However, the state government later decided to withdraw his integrity certificate.
The appointment of the state DGP became a subject of litigation in the Supreme Court, which has completed its hearing and reserved its verdict.
Separately, BJP Rajya Sabha member Sujeet Kumar had lodged a police complaint in June against Nath and Raula over the 2025 jailbreak.
