How a custodial death and a corruption case revealed Kerala CM’s passive approach towards law and order
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is a man of delivery and commitment. He knows the art of making things happen when he is at the controlling tower. But he was disheartened when he lost heavily in the recent Lok Sabha polls. His strategy failed to click with voters and a section of his comrades. Meanwhile, the Kerala Police continue to add to his woes. But he is not a politician who loses his mission by throwing away all his wickets. The CM has decided to convene a meeting of all district police chiefs on July 16 to make them accountable to the good practices in policing.
“The chief minister has designated officials to deal with police affairs and found that they are incapable of monitoring the black sheep in the force. He has paid a price for his passive role and many heads are going to roll in his game plan,” a senior police official said. A custodial death at Nedumkandam police station opened Pinarayi’s eyes. Forty-eight-year old Rajkumar and two women were allegedly kept in police custody for five days without recording their arrests and the police brutally tortured them to recover the money they had collected from their investors. While Rajkumar died, the two women survived.
The arrested cops confessed that the superintendent of police of Idukki, KB Venugopal, directed them to torture them and recover money. The SP is backed by CPI(M) ‘godfathers’. He had direct access to many top leaders. He was just given a simple transfer near his home after the custodial death after his mentors intervened on his part. When police officials like Venugopal go unpunished, Kerala suffers the worst. But the CM acted with diligence when the Vigilance Department notified him about allegedly corrupt police official, V Hamsa, deputy superintendent of police, working with the crime branch in Thrissur.
Pinarayi ordered a raid on Hamsa’s office and home after receiving the complaints. The police recovered documents related to Hamsa’s investment in real estate and securities. Preliminary estimates indicate that he had amassed disproportionate assets worth Rs 10 lakh. He is absconding since the raid, and the police are giving him enough time to get the best legal opinion. Hamsa was a darling of the party leaders who ruled Kerala. They managed his postings and he specialised in one area to derive profit from his office — supporting the liquor mafia in Kerala.
He ensured their smooth passage.
He has mentors not only in the CPI(M) but also in Congress. “When I was DGP of Kerala, I issued a circular in 2011 for all serving police personnel to file affidavits about their annual income and how they spent their time after their work hours. In 2013, the circular was withdrawn by the then DGP. I don’t blame my predecessors who withdrew my circular. But now, we find that many lower-level officials made money by misusing their position. It’s a systemic failure in the Kerala Police, where rule of law is ignored,” former DGP Jacob Punnoose, a 1975 batch IPS officer, who served the Kerala Police for 35 years said.
(Courtesy of Mail Today)