THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Days after he was removed as Vigilance director following controversy over the detention of gold smuggling accused P S Sarith and alleged attempts to silence co-accused Swapna Suresh, ADGP MR Ajithkumar returned to the police headquarters on Tuesday in a lessthan- significant post. The 1995-batch officer is the new ADGP, Protection of Civil Rights, a post that had been lying vacant since the retirement of ADGP E J Jayaraj in May last year.
The post has been given ex-cadre status and is now equivalent in rank to ADGP Headquarters. Ajithkumar was sacked as director of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on June 10 following allegations that he masterminded the detention of Sarith from Palakkad and coordinated with Shaj Kiran, a mediator, to persuade Swapna to drop her allegations against the chief minister and his family in connection with the gold smuggling case.