T.P. ChandrasekharanThe police officials who probed T.P. Chandrasekharan murder case are being deprived of their due while the convicts are being accorded preferential treatment.
The officials who arrested the accused from the CPM strongholds in Kannur and also from other states are now idling in insignificant posts.
This assumes significance in the wake of reports that the Kerala government had recommended the commuting of sentences of notorious criminals including 11 convicted in the sensational T.P. Chandrasekharan murder case.
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Most of them are unable to work in their home districts and also have been kept off from law and order responsibilities too.
Investigation officer of the case, Crime Branch DySP, K.V. Santhosh, was moved to the capital on getting a promotion.
Santhosh, who had won the encomiums of the court for his investigation acumen, has been posted as commandant of the State Industrial Security Force.
Santhosh, a native of Kozhikode, was subsequently transferred as Crime Branch SP to Ernakulam.
A.P. Shoukath Ali, who went on deputation to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) during the tenure of the previous United Democratic Front Government, got promoted as SP.
Taking a cue from the experience of his colleagues, he sought extension of deputation and decided to continue in NIA itself.
Another DySP, M.J. Sojan, who was a member of the investigation team, was the officer who secured a major lead in the Jisha murder case.
Though chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had described the breakthrough as a feather in the cap of the police, Sojan, was subsequently transferred to Kasaragod.
Top officials intervened to limit Sojan’s transfer to Palakkad, where he is serving as SP of the Narcotics wing.
Though the government had elicited his service to probe the death of Kalabhavan Mani and the Walayar sexual harassment case, he is being retained at Palakkad in the same post.
Josey Cherian, another member of the team, was moved out of Kozhikode, his home district and shifted from law and order to vigilance.
Another team member, circle inspector Benny, has been posted in Vigilance.
SP, Anoop John Kuruvila, who headed the investigation, returned after deputation in NIA three months back.
He has been posted as assistant director of the Police Academy in Thrissur. Other officials who have been facing a similar fate are DGP T.P. Sen Kumar and State Crime Records Bureau chief N. Sankar Reddy.
Many officers who had played a prime role in arresting the accused are living under transfer threat.
Though the Kannur district leadership of the CPM had demanded stringent action against such officials, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had not yielded to their pressure so far.
