An Indian Administrative Service officer in Kerala has been booked and suspended from duty because he travelled to his home in Uttar Pradesh despite being asked to go in quarantine after a trip to Singapore and Malaysia, PTI reported. The officer, Anupam Mishra, is the sub-collector in Kollam.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said: “That is not a right act. We have requested those under observation to strictly follow quarantine instructions. But when a responsible officer like the sub-collector fled Kerala, it has brought disgrace to the state.”

Kollam Superintendent of Police T Narayanan earlier told PTI that a case was filed against Mishra based on a report from the health department.

Mishra had reported to work on March 19 after a trip abroad with his wife. Kollam District Collector B Abdul Nasser said that he was advised to remain in quarantine, as per the protocol for people with travel history amid the coronavirus pandemic. His personal staff, including a gunman, had also been kept under observation.

Nasser said the officer left for home the same day he was asked to go in quarantine without informing authorities. Health officials, who had gone to check on Mishra, found the lights at his house switched off, PTI reported, quoting the police.

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“We found out that he was not in Kollam,” Nasser told NDTV. “Instead, he had reached Kanpur. He had left on the 19th itself.” He added that Mishra had neither informed the government that he was leaving Kerala nor did he ask for permission to go.

The state government asked Mishra to explain why he defied quarantine rules. Kerala Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma told NDTV that the officer had behaved irresponsibly and the government will take strict action against him “This is a very irresponsible behavior,” he said. “There will be action against him.”

Kerala has 137 cases of coronavirus, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. No positive case has been reported from Kollam district.

Seventeen people have died in India due to Covid-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, the Union Health Ministry confirmed on Friday. There are 724 confirmed cases in the country, of which 640 are active. India went under a 21-day lockdown from Wednesday, the longest among countries hit by the pandemic.