THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: State Police Chief Loknath Behera on Wednesday said he was unaware of the the reinstatement of MS Shibu, the Station House officer who was under suspension for allegedly delaying the probe into the Kevin murder case. The DGP told the media that he would respond after checking with Kottayam SP Harisankar.
The case pertains to the abduction and murder of Kottayam native Kevin P Joseph. Kevin was allegedly murdered by the family members of his wife.
Kevin's family have said that they will approach the Chief Minister on Wednesday and appeal against the decision to reinstate Shibu into service.
The officer, who was undergoing an internal inquiry, was reportedly given a clean chit by the Kochi range IG Vijay Sakhare. Shibu was served a dismissal notice earlier. It was on February 15 that Sakhare issued a termination notice to Shibu, alleging serious lapses in the handling of the abduction and murder case of Kevin P Joseph on the basis of a department-level investigation inquiry conducted by DySP Vinod Pillai.
It is learnt that Shibu could submit convincing explanations for the charges levelled against him in the investigation report. Shibu reportedly said there was no lapse on his part as he had given directions to the junior officers in the station before leaving his office on that fateful night. The officer was at the receiving end for not taking timely action in the case, even though Kevin’s relatives had filed a complaint at the Gandhi Nagar police station soon after the abduction.
Meanwhile, the police have initiated departmental action against the reinstated SI. He has been demoted as the juniormost SI in service.