THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After the police headquarters’ reply to the RTI query on Thrissur Pooram precipitated a huge controversy, the state government in a face-saving measure has directed the police department to suspend the officer who had provided the reply to the question.
The directive was given to suspend NRI Cell DySP M S Santosh, who is the State Public Information Officer in the Police Headquarters. The release from the Chief Minister’s Office said an inquiry would be conducted against the officer for giving a wrong reply, thereby bringing disgrace to the department and the government.
In its reply to an RTI query on whether a probe was conducted on the disruption of Thrissur Pooram, the police headquarters said there was no information available with the office on such a probe. The query was then forwarded to Thrissur City Police for a more prompt reply. The police in its reply said they did not conduct such a probe nor had filed a report on the matter. The replies triggered a huge controversy as they contradicted the CM’s previous stand. The CM in his press release had said that the State Police Chief would probe the complaints against the cops in connection with the Pooram row and the report would be filed within a week.
The CM and the government were pushed to the backfoot by the UDF, which reiterated its allegation that the Pooram was disrupted following a CPM-BJP pact to assist NDA candidate Suresh Gopi win the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat.