M.R. Ajith Kumar (file)
| Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT
Former Kerala Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Law and Order, M.R. Ajith Kumar’s purportedly confidential report on the Thrissur Pooram ‘disruption’ drew politically bipartisan criticism from the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Congress on Monday (December 23, 2024).
CPI leader V.S. Sunil Kumar told The Hindu that the timing of the “so-called confidential document’s leak” and the inquiry report’s contentious findings were highly suspicious.
Mr. Sunil Kumar said the State police had denied him a copy of the report he had sought under the RTI Act, citing security reasons.
“How can such a confidential report emerge in the public domain without official consent? The question begs a separate inquiry by the State government,” he added.
Mr. Sunil Kumar said the report was “superfluous and irrelevant” and that the State Police Chief (SPC) had rejected it. Subsequently, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan constituted a three-member team, including the SPC, to conduct a detailed probe, he pointed out.
Mr. Sunil Kumar said the inquiry team had almost completed the investigation and was due to submit its findings to the government.
He said the ADGP’s report erroneously gives a clean chit to the police. It glosses over the entrenched political conspiracy to create widespread disaffection with the ruling front. Moreover, the report casts the Devasoms under a shadow of a doubt. “Hence, leaking the report at the current juncture was suspicious”, he said.
Whitewash job: Congress
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has alleged that the police had disrupted the Pooram with the tacit approval of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as part of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)‘s “tacit understanding” with the BJP in Kerala.
Congress leader K. Muraleedharan termed the report “a nonsensical whitewash job.”
The CPI had flagged a “conspiracy” involving the RSS’ top leadership, a few Devasom officials and some at the apex of law enforcement to stack the decks in favour of Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidate in Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency, Suresh Gopi, in the 2024 elections.
Both the CPI and the Congress claimed that the alleged plot entailed stoking Hindu majoritarian sentiment by “sabotaging” the Pooram mid-course to accord Mr. Gopi a strong fighting chance in the constituency.
Both parties also blamed the police for giving Mr. Gopi a champion image by allowing him exclusive access to the Devasom offices and festival grounds, which were declared off-limits for other politicians.
Published – December 23, 2024 04:22 pm IST