Senior IPS officer and former director general of Tihar Prisons Sandeep Goel has been suspended by the Union Home Ministry for alleged dereliction of duties, officials said here on Thursday.

Goel, a 1989-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, was removed as the head of Delhi's Tihar Prisons last month and attached to the Delhi Police headquarters.

He has been suspended by the home minister for "dereliction" of duties during his tenure as DG of Tihar, a ministry official said.

No specific reason has been cited in the suspension order.

Goel was removed from the post after alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar made sensational claims that he had paid Rs 12.5 crore to the officer as "protection money" for his safety in Mandoli Jail, where he is lodged in connection with a Rs 200-crore money laundering case.

Chandrasekhar also claimed in his letter to the lieutenant governor of Delhi that he had paid more than Rs 50 crore to the city's ruling AAP for an "important" post in the party and another Rs 10 crore to jailed minister Satyender Jain as "protection money".

The claims were made by him in a letter dated October 7.

Chandrasekhar's allegations came soon after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) claimed in a court that Jain had met a witness in Tihar and tried to tamper with evidence.

In 2019, Chandrasekhar had alleged that Jain, along with his secretary and close friend Sushil, met him in prison and asked him to pay Rs two crore every month as "protection money" to "live safely" in the jail and get basic facilities, besides Rs 1.5 crore to Goel, who he said was a "loyal associate" of the minister.

Jain forced him to pay Rs 10 crore within two-three months, Chandrasekhar alleged.

He also claimed that he had disclosed about Goel running a racket in a petition in the Delhi High Court, besides telling the CBI about the money paid to both the minister and the officer.