Vigilance starts anti-corruption inquiry against two Kerala IPS officers, including ADGP Ajith Kumar

In a government order, Kerala’s Home department also brings Sujith Das, former District Police Chief of Malappuram and later Pathanamthitta, who served under Ajith Kumar, under the probe’s ambit

The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) has commenced a “detailed anti-corruption enquiry” against two ranking IPS officers in Kerala, including the State’s top law enforcer, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Law and Order, M.R. Ajith Kumar. 

In a government order issued on Friday (September 20, 2024), the Home department also brought Sujith Das, former District Police Chief of Malappuram and later Pathanamthitta, who served under Mr. Kumar, under the probe’s ambit.

(The government had earlier suspended Mr. Das pending a detailed enquiry and placed him on a subsistence allowance.)

MLA’s complaint

The government ordered the investigation based on a complaint filed by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Independent legislator P.V. Anvar who represents the Nilambur constituency in Malappuram district.

Mr. Anvar stirred the pot last month by accusing the officers of criminality, corruption, nepotism, secret felling and smuggling of decades-old trees from government land for their valuable timber, amassment of ill-gotten wealth, and deployment of plainclothes squads to waylay gold smugglers for their contraband.

Mr. Anvar’s charges compelled the government to order a preliminary enquiry headed by State Police Chief (SPC) Sheikh Darvesh Sahib. The MLA had written the accusations to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in person and met him at the latter’s office in the government Secretariat last month. 

‘Vigilance angle’

In the order released by the Chief Minister’s Office on Friday, the government said Mr. Sahib reported that Mr. Anvar’s accusations against the officers had a “Vigilance angle.”

The order noted that Mr. Sahib recommended that the VACB conduct a detailed inquiry to determine the truth about the matter. 

The order said the investigation would cover the allegation of the cutting, removal, and misappropriation of valuable trees from the camp office of the District Police Chief, Malappuram. 

Bribery charges

The VACB will also investigate Mr. Anvar’s accusation that Mr. Kumar had extorted a sizeable bribe from the owner of an online news channel under investigation for allegedly hacking into law enforcement’s wireless communication grid.

Mr. Anvar had accused the officer of tipping off the channel owner about police movements until the latter procured bail from the Supreme Court. 

Contraband gold

The VACB will also probe allegations of misappropriation of gold seized from smugglers in north Kerala. Mr. Anvar had accused the officers of deploying plainclothes squads, District Anti-Narcotic Special Action Force (DANSAF), to waylay gold carriers with the connivance of Customs officials outside airports for their contraband.

The government has brought Mr. Kumar, Mr. Das, and DANSAF team members under the gold smuggling probe. 

Wealth amassment

The VACB would also examine Mr. Anvar’s accusation that Mr. Kumar had brought pricey property abutting the premises of the Kowdiar Palace in Thiruvananthapuram, an upmarket neighbourhood, to construct an expansive and stately residence, with allegedly ill-gotten wealth.

It would also study the assets Mr. Kumar and Mr. Das acquired to determine whether they matched the two officers’ known income sources. 

CMO wrongfooted

Mr. Anvar’s muckraking press conferences in Malappuram last month, replete with bombshell accusations against the ranking officers and police administration, whipped up a political storm that arguably caught the Chief Minister’s office (CMO) and Mr. Vijayan’s political secretary, P. Sasi, in its dead centre.

The MLA had accused Mr. Sasi of giving Mr. Kumar free rein over law enforcement and failing in his duty as the Chief Minister’s political secretary. 

He also said the police worked overtime in Malappuram to create public disaffection against the government, including cracking down on minimal laterite excavation for building houses for the poor under the government’s flagship Life Mission scheme.

Mr. Anvar also questioned the arrest and remand of CPI(M) workers for preventing a set of miscreants from disrupting Mr. Vijayan’s outreach programme, Navakerala Sadas. He had claimed he was representing the best interests of the party and the government.

Protests by Congress, BJP

These prompted the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to launch street agitations demanding the officer’s ouster from service and the institution of criminal investigations against them. 

CPI’s pressure

On Thursday, the Communist Party of India (CPI), an LDF ally, put the screws on the government for Mr. Kumar’s immediate removal from the top law and order post for allegedly holding secret discussions with the RSS’ apex leadership.

Published - September 20, 2024 10:55 am IST