Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India]: Asserting that his government will take necessary action on MLA PV Anwar’s allegation on Kerala police officers, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Saturday that Anwar should have brought these matters to the party’s attention first rather than publicly discussing the matter in the media.
“As per our standard procedure, when a complaint is received, it is thoroughly examined, and necessary actions are taken. MLA PV Anwar submitted a complaint, and prior to that, he had publicly discussed the matter in the media. Consequently, an elite investigation team was formed under the state police chief,” CM Vijayan said.
“Typically, if such an issue arises, a member like PV Anwar, being part of the CPI(M) parliamentary party, should have brought these matters to the party’s attention first. He has publicly stated that the party appointed us, so if he had such awareness, the appropriate course of action would have been to raise the issue within the party before proceeding to public channels,” he added.
The Kerala CM also said that an investigation is currently underway, and he has already stated that appropriate decisions will be made once the report is received.
“SP Sujith Das has been suspended pending investigation due to inappropriate conduct that has come to light. The focus is now on uncovering the facts related to the allegations and the evidence surrounding them. The allegation involves police misconduct related to gold smuggling,” he added.
CM Vijayan asserted that it is imperative to ensure that the police force operates fearlessly and justly while preventing unlawful activities.
“Any misconduct from the police should not occur. If it does, strict actions will be taken. However, we cannot condone any deliberate attempt to undermine the morale of the police force. The police are here to detect and prevent unlawful activities. The police are performing their duty by seizing gold smuggling operations and bringing traffickers to justice. In recent years, we have substantial data on smuggled gold and hawala money seized across various regions of the state,” he said.
“In 2022, police intercepted 79.9 kg of gold across 98 cases, while this year, in just 26 cases, 18.1 kg of gold was seized. Over the past three years, a total of 147.79 kg of gold has been confiscated, with 124.47 kg seized in Malappuram alone. Additionally, since 2020, police have seized hawala money amounting to Rs 122.5 crore, of which Rs 87.22 crore came from Malappuram,” he added.
The Kerala CM said further that these figures indicate that a significant volume of gold and hawala money is being funnelled through the Karipur airport.
“Addressing gold smuggling and hawala transactions is a duty we owe to our nation, and the police are committed to this,” he said, adding that they will strengthen measures to combat gold smuggling further, taking any allegations seriously.
Earlier, MLA Anvar filed a formal complaint with DGP Shaik Darvesh Saheb, prompting an internal investigation.
According to the report referenced as the second document, the DGP and State Police Chief stated that the allegations made by P.V. Anvar, MLA from Nilambur, point to several serious issues that require a vigilance inquiry.
These include allegations of cutting down and misappropriating valuable trees from the DPC Camp in Malappuram, as well as allegations of accepting bribes related to a case involving Sajan Scaria, initiated by M.R. Ajithkumar, IPS, ADGP (L&O).