THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: State Congress president Mullappally Ramachandran asked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as to why he had appointed Loknath Behera as state police chief overlooking four senior DGPs. He said it was after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Pinarayi had appointed Behera as the police chief even after overlooking the objection of the CPM central committee.
When asked whether Behera was brought in specifically to wriggle out from the SNC Lavalin case, Mullappally said, “What you can understand between the lines, people of the state also knows.”
He called upon the Chief Minister to conduct an inquiry as to why Loknath Behera who had investigated the Gujarat riots case and Ishrath Jahan shootout case was removed from the National Investigative Agency midway. He also asked the Chief Minister to explain as to what is exemplary in Loknath Behera.
Mullappally said Pinarayi had appointed Behera in such a crucial post as state DGP without conducting a proper background check. He added the very next day after Behera was posted he had strongly expressed his opinion against this programme in a public programme in Thalassery, the Chief Minister’s hometown. Mullappally Ramachandran said he had been continuously raising this issue since the past two and a half years regularly and added it was the present statement in the Youth League meet at Vadakara which had attracted media attention.
He called upon the Chief Minister to conduct an inquiry on why Behera went for a long leave from NIA and he can ask the police advisor or senior police officers on the same. Mullappally said Kodiyeri Balakrishnan who was a former state home minister can also shed light on this and said the Chief Minister had given appointment to Loknath Behera who was kept aside by the Home Department.
He said the court itself had come out against keeping aside the fake encounter of Ishrat Jehan case 22 times and had, while considering a public interest litigation, called upon constituting a special investigating agency for the case.