Intelligence ADGP T P Senkumar came in support of actor Kalabhavan Mani, against whom the police had slapped non-bailable charges for assaulting two forest officials on Wednesday last.
Speaking at the inaugural function of the Kerala Police Association state conference here on Tuesday, Senkumar said that the police officials would have taken a different stand if it had been a superstar in Mani’s place.
“Had it been Mammootty, Mohan Lal, Dileep or Jayaram in place of Mani, would the police officials show so much vigour to nab him?” he asked, adding that he was not justifying Mani’s action or going into the merits of the case.
“When I spoke to Thrissur SP after the incident, he told me about the stringent measures taken to nab the actor. But when I asked him whether such action would have been initiated if it was a superstar in Mani’s place, he had no answer,” Senkumar said. Hinting on caste discrimination, Senkumar said that the incident testimonies the practice of saluting the ‘white’ and attacking the ‘black’. He said that Mani came up from a humble background and hence such action was taken against him.
Senkumar said that the discrimination against the ordinary and downtrodden class exists not just in the police force, but also in other government departments. Earlier, Minister of State for Labour Kodikunnil Suresh, who inaugurated the state conference, said that discrimination against officers from underprivileged classes exists in the police force.
“I have come across several complaints regarding denial of promotion to eligible police officers from Scheduled Caste communities. It is learnt that a group of top officials is involved in such discrimination and torture of officers from deprived classes,” Kodikunnil said.
He urged Senkumar to conduct an investigation into the matter. Kodikunnil said that the number of officers from marginalised sections of the society had dropped. “Special recruitment was held in the force for such sections during the tenure of former Chief Minister K Karunakaran,” he said.
Kodikunnil said that one police station each should be set up in each panchayat. P K Gurudasan MLA, and Police Association office-bearers attended the meeting.