Mumbai, May 29 (PTI) Senior Maharashtra police officer Jalindar Supekar, whose name had cropped up in the Vaishnavi Hagawane dowry harassment-suicide case, was on Thursday relieved of additional responsibilities as deputy inspector general of prisons of Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Nagpur divisions.

Supekar is Special Inspector General of Police in the Maharashtra Prisons Department headquartered in Pune. He was also holding addition charge as DIG of these three divisions.

In the Prisons department, the post of DIG is “important” and full of “responsibilities”, said a Maharashtra home department order which stated that Supekar was being relieved of his additional charges “considering the importance of these posts”.

Giving additional charge of three posts to an IG rank officer, who is second in command after the Additional Director General of Police (ADG), was not “appropriate” as per administrative requirements, it added.

The additional charge of Deputy Inspector General of Prison, Nagpur division has been handed over to Swati Sathe, who is DIG Prisons, Pune, the order mentioned.

Aruna Mugutrao, who is Superintendent of Nashik Central prison, has been given additional charge of DIG Prisons of Nashik division, while Vaibhav Aage, currently Superintendent of Nagpur Central Prison, has been given additional charge of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar division, the order stated.

Incidentally, the state government had asked the ADG Prisons to probe allegations that Supekar was trying to shield the accused in the Vaishanavi Hagawane dowry harassment and suicide case.

Hagawane allegedly committed suicide in Pune’s Bavdhan area on May 16, with her kin alleging that her in-laws and others had tortured her for dowry. Her father-in-law Rajendra Hagawane was subsequently expelled from the NCP after the case hit national headlines.

Supekar is the uncle of Vaishnavi’s husband Shashank. PTI DC BNM