Thiruvananthapuram: Confidential reports against two DGP rank officials are in the safe custody of State police chief Loknath Behera, even as the second Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet is to decide on a successor to Behera.
These officials are tipped to be the most likely replacement of Behera, though there are 12 others in the probables list.
A detailed Crime Branch report against the daughter of DGP Sudhesh Kumar, currently heading the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, and a vigilance report against DGP Tomin J Thachankary are with Behera.
Kumar had submitted the report against Thachankary, Chairman and Managing Director of Kerala Financial Corporation.
Behera will retire from service on June 30, if he is not elevated to the post of Director, Central Bureau of Investigation. Behera is among the probables list of officials being considered for the CBI Director's post.
Arun Kumar Sinha tops the list of 12-member probable candidates to the post of State police chief. Sinha, currently on Central deputation as the Director of Special Protection Group, is not likely to return to the State.
After Sinha, Thachankary is the senior-most officer in the list, followed by Kumar. All three belong to the 1987 batch of IPS officers.
Meanwhile, the police headquarters has been keen on ending the case against Kumar’s daughter, who had allegedly assaulted police driver Gavaskar in public in June 2018. Kumar had then lodged a counter-complaint against the driver, charging him of outraging the modesty of a woman.
Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch) B K Prasanthan Kani, who probed the complaints, reported that the IPS officer’s complaint lacked merit, and further action could be initiated against his daughter. The probe officer’s report was validated by the Advocate General a year ago.
The report against Thachankary was on amassment of wealth disproportionate to known sources of income and seven other confidential vigilance probes against him, and actions initiated against him during the tenure of V S Achuthanandan ministry. This report, too, has not been forwarded to the government.
