Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan has warned those who try to act as ‘moral police’ that they would be treated as criminals.
Inaugurating the state conference of the Kerala Police Officers Association here on Saturday, the minister said anybody with “five-feet-five-inch height and sporting a turban” could not function as police. Stern action would be taken against the self-styled moral cops, he added. Pointing out that the police force in the state has been elevated to the status of the best police force in the country, Thiruvanchoor said that every police official has the duty to hold aloft this honour.
This is the result of the combined efforts of the cops, and the Director General of Police has played a significant role in obtaining this distinction, the minister added.
Honest officials in the Police Department often had to face criticism from a section of people. But this shouldn’t be taken seriously. The basic duty of the police is to maintain law and order in the state and the government has to offer protection to their lives also, he said.
DGP Jacob Punnoose, who is going to retire from the service, was presented with a memento at the function. Babu George, state vice-president of the KPOA, presided over the conference.
Agriculture Minister K P Mohanan, Thrissur Range IG S Gopinath, ARC Commandant Abdul Nissar, Sunny Joseph MLA, K V Krishnan and U Preman were among those who spoke.