Thrissur: The Kerala government suspended a senior police officer on Friday for furnishing incorrect information to an RTI query on the probe into the disruption of Thrissur Pooram. DySP M S Santhosh, Public Relations Officer at the Kerala State Police Headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, faced the action for his response to an RTI petition submitted by Manorama News.
According to the press release issued by the Chief Minister's Office, Santhosh was suspended from service for defaming the government and police by giving wrong information. In the RTI reply, Santhosh claimed that no investigation was conducted into the disruption of Thrissur Pooram in April despite the government announcing a probe.
Thrissur City Police also told Manorama News that no inquiry had been conducted, fuelling suspicion that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the CPM, and its alliance partners, including the CPI, misled the public by claiming an investigation was underway.
The Chief Minister had defused the controversy surrounding the Pooram by announcing an inquiry after an alleged disruption to the famed festival just before the Lok Sabha elections. A press release from the Chief Minister's Office on April 21 stated that the Thrissur Police Commissioner would be transferred, and the state police chief would investigate complaints against police actions, with a report due within a week. Since then, CPI leaders have been demanding the release of the investigation report. It is alleged that the government is trying to save its face by taking action against DySP Santhosh.
The RTI application filed with police headquarters posed two questions: Was there an investigation into the Pooram disruption, and if so, could a copy of the report be provided? The response stated: "No such investigation details are available at this office. For accurate information, the query has been forwarded to Thrissur City Police." In essence, police headquarters was unaware of the investigation purportedly assigned to the DGP by the Chief Minister.
Pooram disruption triggered a political row amid the Lok Sabha elections, so the government ordered a probe under ADGP MR Ajith Kumar. However, the RTI documents confirmed that no official had investigated the incident.
