Thrissur: ADGP M R Ajith Kumar who submitted the probe report on Thrissur pooram disruption has been slammed for not proposing any action against officials involved in alleged police high-handedness during the conduct of the festival. Ajith Kumar conducted a probe and submitted a report on Saturday. It is learnt that the probe report only contains proposals to conduct Pooram smoothly.
Though then-city police commissioner Ankit Asokan's lapses were mentioned in the report, no action was proposed against him. The report only mentioned that the inexperience of the police commissioner in conducting Thrissur Pooram led to the disruption of the famous temple festival on April 19. It is learnt that action would be proposed against the officials only after the Chief Minister examines it.
Now, all eyes are on the Chief Minister's decision on the report as ADGP's findings rubbishing conspiracy in Pooram disruption equally irked LDF ally CPI along with Congress. On Sunday, former minister and CPI leader V S Sunil Kumar said that there was an outside intervention that resulted in the disruption of Pooram.
"I don't have any doubt that the disruption behind the Thrissur Pooram was due to external intervention and a conspiracy was behind it. I don't know what the report says," Kumar said.
Criticising the report, Congress alleged that the mastermind behind disrupting the Pooram himself had submitted the investigation report regarding it.
Leader of Opposition, V D Satheesan, said the report was a farce.
"The ADGP, who is accused of disrupting the Pooram, has filed a report. The CM had asked the DGP to file a report within one week. However, it's been four months, and there were reports that no inquiry was going on. Now the accused has submitted a probe report, and it's a farce," Satheesan said in a statement.
Senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan said his party does not believe in Ajithkumar's report.
"We cannot accept Ajithkumar's report. So we stand firm on our demand for a judicial probe into the matter," he said.
An RTI reply recently claimed that there was no investigation into the Thrissur Pooram disruption. However, the official concerned who had given the RTI reply was later suspended pending investigation, and the Chief Minister's office informed that action was taken for providing wrong information.
On Saturday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that directions were given to submit the report by September 24.
For the first time in the history of the festival, the display of fireworks, one of the major attractions of the event, which was scheduled in the wee hours, was held in broad daylight on Pooram day in Thrissur, which turned out to be a disappointment for the festival buffs.
