Maharashtra Deputy Inspector General (Prisons) Swati Sathe on Friday recused herself from the departmental inquiry into the alleged killing of a convict inside Byculla jail, reported PTI. Sathe took the step after her Whatsapp messages seeking support for the six arrested jail staffers went viral. Special Inspector General (Prisons) Rajvardhan Sinha will now handle the inquiry into the alleged custodial killing of Manjula Shetye.

“After the WhatsApp message episode, DIG Sathe was relieved on her request and the probe handed over to Special Inspector General (Prisons) Rajvardhan Sinha,” Additional Director General of Prisons Bhushankumar Upadhyay told PTI.

Sathe had reportedly sought support from her colleagues and monetary help for the bail of the six accused, according to The Indian Express. “On July 2, Sathe had posted three messages in the WhatsApp group ‘Maharashtra Karagruha’, in which she made an appeal to her colleagues in the prisons department to support the arrested staffers, whom she called as ‘sisters’,” another prison official told PTI.

The matter came to light after the messages went viral. On July 3, former Jail Superintendent Hiralal Jadhav had sent a letter along with the screenshots of her WhatsApp messages to Maharashtra Home Department, and demanded action against Sathe. Officials are likely to ask Sathe for a formal explanation, reported The Hindu.

Convict Shetye was allegedly assaulted by the six jail staffers that led to her death on June 23. Jailor Manisha Pokharkar and five other guards – Bindu Naikode, Waseema Shaikh, Sheetal Shegaokar, Surekha Gudve and Aarti Shingane – had been suspended by the Prisons Department after Shetye’s death came to light. The six were arrested on July 1.

Shetye’s death had triggered a “prison riot” led by former media tycoon and undertrial Indrani Mukherjea. A case of rioting was lodged against Mukherjea and 290 other inmates.