THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/THRISSUR : Amid mounting criticism of police “high-handedness” during the Thrissur Pooram, the state government on Sunday cracked the whip, ordering the transfer of Thrissur Police Commissioner Ankit Asokan and Assistant Commissioner (ACP) K Sudersan. The transfers will be effected after getting the consent of the Election Commission owing to the model code of conduct, a statement said.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is in-charge of the home portfolio, also directed the state police chief to conduct a departmental probe into the complaints and submit a report within a week.
The government’s order came after the restrictions imposed by the police during the pooram invited severe criticism and gave ammunition for the UDF and the BJP to ramp up its attack against the Left front and the state government during the last phase of the election campaign.
Protesting the police restrictions, the Thiruvambady devaswom had stopped the ceremonies abruptly late on Friday. Subsequently, the fireworks display was delayed by over three hours. The devaswom authorities had alleged that police used barricades wherever possible and restricted free movement of people.
Amid complaints that the police went overboard in its security arrangements, a video has surfaced on social media that showed the police commissioner blocking the committee members and volunteers who were heading to feed elephants and taking parasols for Kudamattam inside the temple.
‘Many cops on duty were unaware of rituals, timings’
An internal report of the Special Branch has held the commissioner responsible for the unexpected events, according to sources. As per the special branch report, only superior officers were briefed about the pooram duty beforehand, while the other personnel on duty were ignorant about festival rituals and its timings.
It is learnt that many police personnel were unaware of the madathil varavu ceremony at night and hence, blocked its way around 10.30pm, creating a chaos at Pazhayanadakkavu. The report also said on several occasions, the police commissioner behaved rudely with the public and even committee members of devaswom, resulting in a discontent.
About 3,500 cops were deployed on duty for ensuring safety during the 36 hours of Thrissur pooram festivities. Due to the duty allocation ahead of the election, those who were on pooram duty were mainly from other districts with no knowledge about its rituals. It is learnt that the location of the duty and timings were provided only on the eve of the pooram with no briefing about the arrangements.
‘Many cops were not briefed’
According to an internal report of the special branch, only superior officers were briefed about the pooram duty beforehand, while the other personnel were unware of the rituals and timings.
