KOZHIKODE : In an unprecedented operation, six senior officers—three DySPs and three Circle
Inspectors—posted in Palakkad and Malappuram districts in Kerala are being probed for their alleged acts of collusion with the main suspect in two recent religious conversion cases. The names of the officers, who are also being investigated for their links with radical outfits, have been withheld given the sensitive nature of the case. It is understood that both the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the state intelligence department are seriously worried about this development as it points to strong communal feelings at play within the force.
Palakkad and Malappuram have been hubs of radical units for a few years now, but the presence of these officers in the region over the past few months seem to have reinforced efforts of these units to try and establish a strong base there.
Both the IB and the state intelligence have apprised the state police headquarters of the activities of these officers who refused to book the suspect against whom the agencies have presented clinching evidence.
“In spite of repeated alerts, these officers have refused to probe the suspect who has been under our watch list. It is quite evident that they are protecting him. The same officers are silently supporting radical groups by not reporting their activities to their seniors,” a senior intelligence officer said.
IB officers are of the opinion that any delay by the state government to crack down on the erring police officers would send out a wrong signal—that it was not on the same page as the central government in cases relating to religious conversion and terror.
However, ADGP (Intelligence) B S Mohammed Yasin admitted that the state police were closely tracking developments in Palakkad and Malappuram. “We are cooperating with the IB by sharing details about the suspected modules. We are also tracking inputs passed on by other agencies,” Yasin said.
The Central and state agencies had traced the activities of the main suspect while conducting a detailed probe in two religious conversion incidents. While the first case pertained to an homeopathy student, who got converted and whose marriage was annulled by the HC recently, the second conversion case, also of a woman, is also being investigated as per instructions by the HC.
Following inputs that certain outfits were aiming to create unrest in the state, the state police had also prepared a detailed report in connection with the protest march taken out on May 29 against the Kerala High Court verdict which nullified the marriage of the converted woman.