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Kerala orders probe into Thrissur Pooram row
The investigation report was submitted by the ADGP to the state police chief on September 23 and reached the CM’s office the next day, he said.
The LDF government in Kerala announced on Thursday that an expansive three-tier investigation was launched into the disruption of the Thrissur Pooram festivities held in April this year. The festivities took place right in the middle of the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
CM Vijayan, later briefing the press at the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, admitted that there was an organised attempt to scuttle the Pooram, a significant annual event in the cultural calendar of Thrissur, with the aim of disturbing the social harmony and amicable atmosphere in the state ahead of the parliamentary polls.
“During the Pooram, there were issues first related to the rent of the land where the exhibition took place and some regarding the display of elephants. However, there was good coordination from the respective temple devaswoms (administrations). It was towards the end of the Pooram that there were attempts to disrupt the festival. The government views it seriously. That’s why it ordered an investigation under the leadership of ADGP (law and order) MR Ajith Kumar,” the CM said.
The investigation report was submitted by the ADGP to the state police chief on September 23 and reached the CM’s office the next day, he said.
“However, the report cannot be called comprehensive. During the Pooram, many restrictions had to be put in place under various laws like Exposives Act, PESO and guidelines stated by various departments. There were judicial recommendations given in the backdrop of the Puttingal temple fire disaster. It can be seen from the report that there were attempts to upstage the state’s social harmony with clear goals,” the chief minister said.
It’s in that context, the CM underlined, that the state government has now decided to order multiple probes in connection with the Pooram’s disruption.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by ADGP (crime branch) H Venkatesh will probe the cognisable offences mentioned in Ajith Kumar’s report.
Additionally, ADGP (intelligence) Manoj Abraham has been asked to investigate if there were lapses on the part of various officials of departments who were tasked with responsibilities during the Pooram.
A third probe will be led by state police chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb into the lapses on the part of ADGP Ajith Kumar in the coordination of police activities during the Pooram. The DGP pointed out in a report to the state government the flaws in policing and Kumar’s absence at crucial moments during the Pooram.
At the same time, the CM reiterated that Ajith Kumar would not be removed from his position until the investigation reports stated that he was found guilty. The CPI, the second largest partner in the ruling front, has been demanding that the ADGP be removed from his position to ensure a transparent probe.
Ajith Kumar already faces various internal police inquiries on the allegations that he met RSS leaders secretly last year, amassed illegal wealth, maintained links with gold smuggling gangs, tapped phone conversations of ministers and ordered murders in Malappuram district.
Nilambur MLA PV Anvar, who had complained to the state government about the ADGP, left the LDF fold last week claiming that the police inquiries against the officer are ineffective and weak.
