Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 5 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday ordered the suspension of Sujith Das, IPS, days after his purported conversation with Left MLA P V Anvar surfaced, allegedly revealing internal issues in the police.
Das had the conversation with Anvar while serving as Superintendent of Police in Pathanamthitta district.
He was removed from the post early this week, following the leak of their conversation, which allegedly portrayed the state police in a poor light and was telecast by the media.
A one-line statement issued by the CMO announced that Chief Minister Vijayan has ordered the suspension of Sujith Das, who was the district police chief of Pathanamthitta.
According to a CMO official, DIG Ajeetha Begum was entrusted with primarily investigating the serious allegations against Das.
Her report found serious lapses, following which the Chief Minister ordered his suspension, the official said.
The Chief Minister's move came amid mounting criticism from Anvar over the police department's inaction against Das regarding his alleged involvement in illegal activities during his tenure as Superintendent of Police in Malappuram district.
"Wicket number one," Anvar said in a Facebook post after the CM ordered Das's suspension.
On Wednesday, Anvar accused plainclothes police squads in Malappuram of "working overtime" to cover up evidence related to gold smuggling and illegal tree-felling allegations he had brought against Das.
Anvar levelled the allegations, a day after he met with Chief Minister Vijayan at the state secretariat to complain about the functioning of Das and Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Law and Order, M R Ajith Kumar.
Currently, both IPS officers are under investigation by a team led by State Police Chief Sheikh Darvesh Sahib.