CPI leader Annie Raja has said replacing Crime Branch head S Sreejith could prove detrimental in the 2017 actor assault case that is at a crucial juncture.
The Kerala government had the other day announced a major reshuffle in the top brass of the state police.
ADGP Sreejith has been moved away from the Crime Branch and made Transport Commissioner. Shaik Darvesh Saheb, who headed the Prisons Department, is the new Crime Branch chief.
Annie Raja, who alleged that even the court was not taking the assault case seriously -- in which actor Dileep is an accused -- said the untimely transfers are likely to affect the further probe.
The reshuffle had come as a surprise to many as the Crime Branch under Sreejith's stewardship had been aggressively pursuing the developments in the assault case and a related conspiracy case.
It is alleged that the government was pressurised into issuing the transfer following repeated criticisms from the court and on the back of objections raised before the home secretary by lawyers' associations.
Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition, VD Satheesan had questioned the reshuffle soon after the appointment of P Sasi as the chief minister's political secretary.
"The matters behind the transfer of officers probing high-profile cases must come out," Satheesan said.
