Eight booked after ED vehicles attacked outside Pinarayi Vijayan’s residence in Kerala
Police said several people have been identified after protests turned violent outside former Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s residence during ED searches.
The Kerala Police chief on Tuesday suspended five police officers attached to the security team of former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for assaulting two Youth Congress leaders during the Nava Kerala Sadas in Alappuzha in 2023.
State Police Chief Ravada A Chandrasekharan issued orders suspending S Sandeep and Anil Kumar, who were part of Pinarayi Vijayan’s security team and cops Arun, Vipin and Shyju, who were on escort duty following the Special Investigation Team’s(SIT) interim report on the matter.
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The interim report was prepared by Crime Branch SP A P Shoukathali, who heads the SIT formed after the UDF government came to power. The SIT interim report concluded that the officers committed severe service rule violations, overstepped their official duties, and violated the Central Government’s ‘Yellow Book’ guidelines governing VIP security. The suspended cops will now face a departmental inquiry.
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The report revealed a high-level police conspiracy to alter and suppress evidence during the initial probe. Former Law and Order ADGP M R Ajith Kumar is currently facing intense scrutiny and a likely separate inquiry for allegedly forcing lower-ranking officers to modify the case diary to protect the security staff.
According to statements issued by previously handling officers, the SIT ADGP Ajith Kumar allegedly summoned the initial investigating officer, the Alappuzha Crime Branch DySP, to his office three times to forcefully alter the case diary and clear the gunmen.
The Crime Branch previously cleared the gunmen. However, the new UDF government decided on Monday to re-investigate the incident, known as the “rescue operation.” In that operation, then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s gunmen surrounded and attacked KSU and Youth Congress workers who were protesting in Alappuzha during the LDF government’s controversial ‘Nava Kerala Sadas.
The incident related to the re-investigation happened on December 15, 2023 when security personnel and gunmen guarding then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan brutally assaulted Kerala Students Union (KSU) and Youth Congress activists. The activists were waving black flags at the Nava Kerala Sadas bus in Alappuzha.
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