KOCHI: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday directed the police to show due diligence in handling cases which were political in nature.
He was speaking at a closed-door meeting of range-level police officers at the IMA Hall in Kaloor here.
According to the officers present at the meeting, the Chief Minister urged the police to remain neutral while dealing with such cases. “The Kerala Anti-social Activities Prevention Act (KAAPA) should not be slapped on political criminals while the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) should only be invoked in cases of extremely serious nature. However, the district police chief should definitely be clued in while the UAPA is invoked,” the Chief Minister was quoted as saying by the police brass.
Besides, Pinarayi directed the police to ensure a human face while enforcing law and order. State Police Chief(SPC) Loknath Behera, Intelligence ADGP B S Mohammed Yasin, ADGP B Sandhya, IG(Kochi Range) P Vijayan and Raman Srivastava, adviser to the Chief Minister on police-related policy matters, were present.
Earlier, Behera told reporters he was awaiting the government’s decision on the DGP incumbent following the apex court order(on T P Senkumar’s reinstatement).
“I am ready to accept the decision of the state government.It is the duty of the government to check the legal technicalities of the Supreme Court judgment,” he said.
Even as Behera said uncertainty prevailed in the top echelons of the state police, he refused to comment on reports of him proceeding on Central deputation.