The suspension of a senior police official in connection with the alleged leakage of information regarding the transportation of the Elathur train arson attack case suspect Shahrukh Saifi in an unmarked vehicle to the Kozhikode police station from Maharashtra in April was a fallout of the feuding between top officials at the State police headquarters here, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said.
He said the development also vindicated the Opposition’s stance that the police failure had resulted in the terror incident that claimed three lives, including an infant, and caused severe burns to nine other passengers.
‘Botched operation’
Mr. Satheesan said the State police failed to arrest the accused, who travelled on the same train after the terror attack in Kozhikode to the next stop at Kannur, despite the suspect having sustained minor burns. The Maharashtra police arrested the accused at Ratnagiri and handed him over to their Kerala counterparts. The State police merely conveyed the suspect to Kerala in an allegedly botched operation. The vehicle carrying the accused broke down twice.
Mr. Satheesan said the government protected the officers responsible for the failure. Instead, it had penalised officers suspected of having leaked the information to the media. Moreover, the police confiscated the cell phones of television channel reporters who covered the severe security breach that characterised the suspect’s transfer from Maharashtra to Kerala.
‘Systemic failure’
The government must address systemic failure and infighting at the law enforcement top level instead of gagging journalists who reported the police failure.
The State government had suspended the Inspector General of Police and former Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief P. Vijayan and Sub-Inspector of Police K. Manoj Kumar in connection with the allegedly deliberate disclosure of confidential information to the media regarding the movement of the terror suspect.
Additional Director General of Police M.R. Ajith Kumar had investigated the episode.
