Kerala govt removes ADGP M R Ajith Kumar from law and order duties amid controversies
By Aishwarya Nair | First Published Oct 6, 2024, 9:59 PM ISTThe Kerala government has removed ADGP M R Ajith Kumar from his law and order responsibilities while allowing him to continue overseeing the Armed Police Battalion. Coalition partner CPI and findings from a high-level inquiry into allegations against him influenced this decision.
Thiruvananthapuram: In response to the demands of coalition partner CPI and agreement with the findings of the high-level team investigating allegations against Law and Order ADGP M R Ajith Kumar, the state government has removed him from his current position. This decision was made as a proactive measure to prevent the UDF from leveraging the controversy as the assembly session begins on Monday (Oct 7).
However, Kumar will continue to serve as ADGP of the Armed Battalion, a position he has held as an additional charge.
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The criticism is that this adjustment merely involves changing one department while retaining most of his responsibilities. The government seems to be attempting to temporarily assign the law and order role to ADGP Manoj Abraham, who is only a few months away from a promotion. He will be promoted to the DGP rank in January. This move indicates that the government is reluctant to let go of Ajith Kumar entirely, opting instead to change just one of his roles.
The decision to transfer Ajith from the influential position of Law and Order ADGP gained traction after a high-level team's report was submitted to the government. This report contained negative comments about the officer, prompting Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to hold a meeting on Sunday morning with his personnel staff, including political secretary P. Sasi, to discuss the officer's future.
According to sources, the high-level team's report included critical comments about Ajith's undisclosed meetings with national RSS leaders. It stated that these meetings harmed the reputation of the police force and constituted a breach of service rules. Additionally, the report indicated that the officer failed to notify the state government about these meetings, only doing so after receiving a report from the Special Branch.
He justified his visits as mere courtesy calls; however, the inquiry team was unable to confirm this since none of the RSS leaders who attended those meetings provided statements to the high-level team.
To justify his controversial interactions, the ADGP claimed he had also met with other political figures, including Rahul Gandhi and V D Satheesan. However, the report dismissed this justification, emphasizing that the individuals he met were political leaders in constitutional positions, whereas the RSS leaders did not hold such roles.
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