The state police chief has received a complaint seeking probe against the Kerala IAS official K Gopalakrishnan who was placed under suspension on Monday for creation of Whatsapp groups based on religion. District Congress committee, Kollam, General Secretary Faizal Kulappadam filed a complaint with the DGP on Tuesday saying that a criminal case shall be registered and a probe shall be initiated against Gopalakrishnan.
In the complaint, Faizal has cited the observations of the Chief Secretary and findings in the order issued by the Government suspending Gopalakrishnan. As per the order, the WhatsApp Group created by Gopalakrishnan was intended to foment division, sow disunity and break the solidarity within the cadres of the All India Services in the State. It was also prima facie found to be creating communal formations and alignments within the cadres of the All India Services in the State, according to the order. His act was found violating the relevant rules of All India service conduct rules, 1968 and he was placed under suspension in compliance with All India Service ( Discipline and Appeal) rules, 1969.
He was also found to have repeatedly reset factory settings of his mobile phone before he gave it for forensic examination. The order issued by the Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan shows that according to the probe report of the Thiruvananthapuram city police commissioner, there was no evidence indicating that the device was hacked as claimed by Gopalakrishnan. " It was also revealed that repeated factory reset of the mobile phone was done by the officer himself before submitting his phones for forensic examination," the order notes.
When the IAS officers who were added to the group raised objection, Gopalakrishnan had said that his phone was hacked and eleven groups based on religion were created. He also filed a complaint with the police. The cyber forensics division found out that his phone was formatted before it was handed over to the police and that there was no evidence to prove that the phone was hacked.
