CHENNAI: DMK treasurer TR Baalu wrote to the ECI urging it to withdraw the order transferring Senthil Velan from the post of Inspector General of Police (Intelligence), Chennai, and appointing Avinash Kumar, IPS in his place.
In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr Vivek Joshi, the party’s treasurer and MP called the transfer “arbitrary and unreasonable”. He said that no reasons had been stated in the ECI’s order and that no major political party had raised complaints against Senthil Velan’s functioning.
He also questioned the ECI’s jurisdiction over the appointment, and said that the IG (Intelligence) post has no direct role in the conduct of elections. Baalu also pointed out that police force requirements for election duty are handled by the Director General of Police/HoPF — a post for which ECI has already made a separate appointment.
The Intelligence wing, according to Baalu’s letter to ECI, handles four branches under DIGs: special branch (law and order, organised crime, drugs), VIP and vital installations security, internal security (terrorism and extremism), and the Anti-Terrorism Squad — none of which falls within the ECI’s electoral remit.
Baalu also flagged a national security concern, warning that the department is currently “in the middle of several sensitive operations and following credible threats,” and that a mid-election change at the IG level would prejudice state’s safety as the incoming officer would need time to acclimatise.