THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A squash aficionado, a painter, a photographer and a technoid. State police chief Loknath Behera has worn many caps in his life. But it was in crime investigation that he had mostly earned bouquets and brickbats.
Behera’s 36-year-long innings in the Indian Police Service comes to an end on Wednesday when he will step down as the state police chief and hand over the baton to his successor who will be decided in the cabinet meeting scheduled for morning.
The Odisha native also had successful stints in CBI and NIA where his investigative skills led to the solving of several intriguing cases. It was not an easy ride for Behera to the post of the top cop. He was made the state police chief after Pinarayi Vijayan came to power in 2016. In fact, there were reports that the first file that Pinarayi signed after his return from New Delhi, where he had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was that of Behera’s appointment— something that set the rumour mills abuzz and prompted the detractors to paint him as a bridge between Modi and Pinarayi.
However, the first spell was over on May 6, 2017 when he had to vacate the office for accommodating TP Senkumar whose claim for the post had been approved by the Supreme Court.
After Senkumar retired on June 30, 2017, Behera was brought back to the chair. The nearly five-year tenure, one of the longest for a state police chief in Kerala, was marred by occasional controversies. Frequent custodial deaths, multiple encounters leading to the death of seven Maoist cadre, serious flaws in probes into the death of Walayar girl siblings and Palathayi minor girl rape case and invoking UAPA against two college students at Pantheerankavu in Kozhikode kicked up controversies that even questioned the style of policing Behera had been practising.
The proposal to set up police commissionerates in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, which would have given police sweeping powers, couldn’t materialise only because of the stern position taken by senior IAS officers. The dominance of police in the government was on display when the Covid crisis engulfed the state last year. The police were tasked with all key responsibilities for managing the pandemic which in the past had been the responsibility of revenue and health departments.
A former high-ranking bureaucrat told TNIE that Behera’s biggest support had been the CM who stood behind him like a rock whenever he had encountered problems. “To remain at the helm for five years without having to clash with the government much is not an easy job. Behera played it safe,” said the officer. His critics allege that the safe-play has damaged the force’s reputation.
“If you work for five years without developing any contentions with the government, then that speaks volumes about the mindset of the police chief. Behera has never put his foot down and just went by the directives from the CM’s office,” said a former police chief.
There were also occasions when Behera showed his firm resolve. Activist Jomon Puthenpurackal recollected that it was on the stern instruction of Behera that rape-accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal was arrested. “He had a clear position on such things. Since the CM had given him full operational freedom, Behera showed resolve and ensured that the bishop was arrested,” he said.
Human rights activist B R P Bhaskar said the frailties being attributed to individual officers are in fact frailties that are ingrained in the police system. “The sad part is the officers who come from good social backgrounds do nothing to prevent the misuse of power. In many cases, the force that the police use does not commensurate with the threats they are addressing. How the police dealt with Maoist cases in Kerala is an example,” he added.
BEHERA DOES A VOLTE FACE ON IS RECRUITMENt
T’Puram: State police chief Loknath Behera on Tuesday said no recruitment to the Islamic State (IS) has taken place in the state since 2016 and the state police is keeping a close watch on the terrorism-related activities. Behera also ruled out existence of ‘Love Jihad’ and termed it as a highly politicised usage. Behera’s volte-face came just two days after his startling disclosure that Kerala was a recruitment hub for IS terrorists.
Apparently toning down the tenor of his statement on Kerala being a recruiting ground of terrorists, Behera maintained that being a literate state Kerala was a fertile ground for radicalisation just as Delhi and Mumbai were. He clarified that after 21 people left for IS territories in 2016, no such incident was repeated in the state. “Those who went were professionals. The IS wants professionals as they want to create a Caliphate,” he added.