CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and Pinarayi Vijayan, senior CPM leader, and the State Chief Minister, have been boasting that Kerala is ‘No: 1’ in all fields. But, Chief Minister recently told the Legislature Assembly that 828 personnel of the Kerala Police Force had been accused in various cases during the last six years.
Now, the Government has decided to dismiss those involved in severe cases. The Home Ministry has started the process of rejecting the unfit personnel. Inspector PR Sunu, who has been recently dismissed from the service, is one among them. He is involved in criminal cases and has undergone disciplinary actions several times.
Sunu has been accused of misconduct which can never permit him to continue in the service. The order to terminate his service has been issued in compliance with the Kerala Police Act 86 (3). The clause disqualifies the personnel who keep getting involved in crimes. He is the first one to be dismissed under his clause. He harassed a woman’s staff when he was the Senior Law Inspector at Kerala Police Academy, Thrissur.
It was established that the incident caused a dent in the credibility of the police force. His two increments were withheld. He was called the ‘criminal in the police’. He undergoes several criminal cases, including four rape cases. He is reported to have faced departmental actions 15 times. He faced three suspensions while in service. The last case was registered at Thrikkakkara Police Station, Kochi.
The complainant was the wife of an accused in a fraud case. The young woman accused Sunu established an excellent rapport with her, promising that he would save her husband from the case, and he raped her with the help of her husband’s friends.
State Police Chief (SPC) found that the punishments awarded to Sunu were inadequate; hence he called for the file and issued the dismissal order.
The police personnel who face dismissal from the service belong to different ranks, from Deputy SP to the lowest ranks. The highest number is in Thiruvananthapuram: 14 people have been convicted by the court.
There are 118 criminal cases accused in Thiruvananthapuram city and rural police districts, 97 in Ernakulam, 63 in Kozhikode and 99 in Alappuzha. A total of 32 officials have been acquitted and the court has quashed 30 FIRs. An investigation is underway in 89 cases.
The number of personnel involved in POCSO cases is 23 and the number of police personnel dismissed since 2016 is 13.
The following crimes invite dismissal: Harassment against women and children, custodial death, dowry case, personnel convicted in cases which shall cause life term or ten-year imprisonment, repeating the same crimes, and those who get involved in violence or anti-social and illegal activities.
