THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Customs has sought the services of the chief technical officer of the DGP for the forensic retrieval of the CCTV footage collected from the secretariat. What makes the move interesting is the background of CTO Vinod Bhattathiripad, a private cyber security expert who was appointed when the Left government came to power.
The CCTV footage is considered one of the crucial pieces of evidence to ascertain the links of the smuggling accused with powerful bureaucrats at the secretariat and Chief Minister’s Office. While there is nothing wrong as per rules in seeking the services of the state government-appointed CTO for retrieving the forensic evidence, the move by Customs, which got the footage even before the NIA came into the picture, raises questions. When hundreds of cyber security experts are available under the Ministry of Electronics and IT, it is not clear why it has not sought their help.
Vinod came close to the chief minister during the time of solar scam which was considered as one of the reasons that led to the fall of the previous UDF government. It was reported that Vinod, a US-based cyber security expert, was one of the weapons in the LDF armoury then. Later, when the LDF government came to power, he was given the post of CTO of DGP.
The most important question is how much help he would give the Customs to retrieve the lost CCTV footage when he is close to the chief minister and DGP, and when the CMO is trying its best to wriggle out of the controversy.
Vinod was at the Kochi cyber police station last Friday and the Customs sought his services. When the investigating agencies sought the CCTV footage of the secretariat, the chief minister had announced that some of the visuals sought were lost in a lightening although a lightening arrestor was installed in the secretariat.
While the Customs officials denied making such a move, Vinod confirmed it and told TNIE that he had given a report to the agency regarding the status of recovery of lost visuals.Though he refused to disclose the contents in the report, he said, “I have done my job and given a report to the Customs. It is up to the agency to comment on it,” he said.