Kerala police mess cannot be brushed aside

Miracles do happen. Ask the Kerala police department. When the latest CAG report pointed out irregularities in the department and singled out DGP Loknath Behera for a special mention in this regard, it seemed the police top brass and their political bosses will have a lot to answer for. With the opposition and media asking questions, the LDF government ordered an inquiry into the findings of the CAG. In less than 24 hours, the inquiry report came out, giving a clean chit to the department on every single aspect.

If Behera and his force needed a miracle to come out of the mess they were in, home secretary Vishwas Mehta turned out to be the angel who delivered it almost instantly. The report that the CAG took at least a year to prepare was trashed by the government in a matter of a few hours. Mehta’s probe report even criticised the CAG for naming Behera.

The charges levelled by the CAG are serious enough to merit a thorough investigation. It said money meant for building quarters for SIs and ASIs were diverted to construct villas for senior officers. It also exposed, among other irregularities, the disappearance of arms and ammunition, and the purchase of bullet-proof vehicles for VIP security and luxury vehicles using funds meant for modernisation of the force.The brazen cover-up by the government is both shocking and disturbing.

At a time when the police force in the state is in dire need of modernisation, the revelation that whatever funds available for it are being diverted with little regard for norms points to the deep rot in the system, and how police officers, bureaucrats and politicians are colluding with each other against the public interest. The CAG report cannot simply be brushed aside. The government is answerable to the public on how it spends their money. The least it could do is conduct a fair and comprehensive investigation into the affairs of the police department and make the guilty pay. The privileges of a few cannot be allowed to override the interests of an entire state.