Vijayawada Police Commissioner Damodar Goutam Sawang is not going on leave as expected. Sawang broke the news himself following intense uproar about his leave in the midst of a raging controversy over Call Money racket. ” I have request the DGP to cancel my leave. I am staying back and continue overseeing the investigation into the Call Money” he said.

He also revealed that his leave had been sanctioned a month ago. ” I wanted to join my family in Australia for the festival. I applied for leave and it was sanctioned last month, ” he said. Government appointed 1987 batch IPS officer G Surendra babu as in-charge commissioner in the place of Sawang.

But the timing of the leave created an unprecedented commotion in the political circles. All opposition parties cried foul over allowing him to go on leave. This morning YSRC urged him not to go on leave at a crucial juncture when names of many political leaders coming to light in the Call Money and the associated sex racket. This controversy , on the eve of winter session assembly, is said to have compelled the government to request him to cancel the leave.

Sawang, though a calm and low-key officer, was in the news twice earlier . Long back, when Telgi’s stamp scam case was under investigation, Sawang was also questioned by CBI. The charge against him was that he was seen going to Bombay along with Telgi. Later, he filed a case of nuisance against hero Rama Charan for partying noisily in the night along with friends. At that time Sawang was Ramcharan’s neighbor.