Kerala CM rejects CBI probe over CAG report on missing rifles and live cartridges

Kerala CM rejects CBI probe over CAG report on missing rifles and live cartridges

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday rejected the Opposition demand for a CBI probe into the recent findings of the CAG that rifles and live cartridges were missing from the Special Armed Police Battalion (SAPB) here.

No rifle was missing from SAPB as found by the CAG and the cartridges had gone missing mainly during the previous Congress-led UDF government's tenure, he told the state Assembly.

Pinarayi said the Left government was viewing the matter 'seriously, adding one police official was arrested and a departmental inquiry pending against 11 others in connection with over 12,000 cartridges going missing.

He was replying to a series of questions raised during question hour on the opening day of the 27-day-long session of the House.

No CBI probe

As the House proceedings began, members of the Congress-led opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) stood up from their seats showing banners demanding a CBI probe into the CAG findings.

However, Pinarayi rejected their demand saying the opposition was demanding the central agency probe with some other "broad interests".

"There is no relevance for a CBI probe right now. An effective and comprehensive investigation by our own agency, crime branch, is progressing...let its report come first," he said.

Of the total 660 INSAS automatic rifles with the state armed force battalion, 647 were physically counted by the Crime Branch team recently and the remaining 13 were found to be issued to the armed force battalion under training in Manipur, he said.

CM blames Opposition for 'cover up'

The Chief Minister also accused the previous UDF government of "covering up" the complaint of missing cartridges when the issue had cropped up in 2015.

Referring to the allegation that some portions of the CAG report was leaked before it was tabled in the House, Pinarayi said it was not a good practise and precedence and the facts behind it should be brought to light.

The CAG, in a damning report tabled in the state assembly on February 12, had found shortage of 25 INSAS rifles and 12,061 live cartridges from the SAP battalion here.

There was shortage of 250 9-mm Drill Cartridges, which was "covered up" with dummy cartridges, the report on General and Social sector for the fiscal ending March 31, 2018 had said.

It had also come down on State police chief DGP Loknath Behera for purchasing luxury vehicles and constructing villas diverting funds and violating norms.

The report also suggested the possibility of a scam in the purchase of voice loggers by the Kerala Police. In case of the voice loggers, the company, Third Entity Security Solutions Private Limited, initially selected for the supply of the equipment was replaced by another, Law Abiding Technologies, flouting all rules.

Voice logger is a device used for regularly recording telephone conversations.

However, Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala alleged the Chief Minister was trying to 'trivialise' the serious issue and demanded a comprehensive probe into it.

(With PTI inputs)

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