The Crime Branch team, which was appointed to probe the recent incident in which a Civil Police Officer came up with strong criticism against the District Police Chief for his alleged failure in controlling the hartal-related violence on S.M. Street, has held him responsible for violation of the code of conduct. The report will be submitted to the Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch) tomorrow for further action.
Police sources said the Crime Branch team led by a Deputy Superintendent of Police was entrusted with the probe as the officer was working under the Crime Branch in Kozhikode city. Disciplinary action would be recommended against the officer on the basis of the report to be examined by the State Police Chief who ordered the inquiry into the controversial Facebook post.
It was on last Saturday that Umesh Vallikkunnu came up with an open social media criticism against the then District Police Chief Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar. According to him, the District Police Chief failed to control the attackers who stormed S.M. Street on the hartal day.
In the post, the CPO had held the police chief responsible for the poor deployment of security personnel at Valiyangadi where traders had defied the hartal call and opened shops. There were only two policemen to offer protection to merchants, he said.
“A real police chief is someone who gives strength to his subordinates without treating them as slaves. We need to have better planning to meet the challenges of the hartal. Adopting the conventional style for every occasion will never work out,” he had said.
The probe was ordered into the incident as the Facebook post was widely shared by social media users and it was used to blame the police for the ‘poor management’ of hartal. Mr. Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar had also been transferred from the city a few days after hartal-related clashes.