A civil police officer attached to the Kalady police station has been suspended pending departmental inquiry on the charge of his alleged links to the banned Popular Front of India (PFI).
The suspended officer is Siyad C.A. An inquiry has been ordered into the incident under Rule 6 of the Kerala Police Departmental Inquiries, Punishment and Appeal (KPDIPA) Rules. The Puthencruz Deputy Superintendent of Police has been entrusted with the probe and asked to submit a report within 14 days.
A preliminary report submitted by the Pothanikkad Station House Officer said the accused had allegedly reached out to those in general duty and other officers over the phone in favour of the PFI activists who were arrested and booked by the Perumbavoor police on the charge of damaging a KSRTC bus during a hartal called by the organisation last month.
The officer was charged with visiting the Perumbavoor police station, attempting to meet the arrested, and illegally trying to interfere in the case without the knowledge of his superiors. He also allegedly had the phone numbers of PFI activists in his contact list and had contacted them in the past. He had also reportedly received images of a political murder in Alappuzha over WhatsApp.
The report said the cop had erred in judgment by contacting PFI activists despite realising that they had been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The suspension was on the grounds that the officer’s action amounted to indiscipline and dereliction of duty, thus bringing disrepute to the police force and belittling it in public perception.
