The State government on Friday suspended A.V. George, former District Police Chief, Ernakulam Rural, who had come under a cloud following the death of a youth in Varapuzha police custody in April.
Officials said the suspension order did not dwell on the ongoing Crime Branch investigation into the death of S.R. Sreejith or the liability of supervisory officers, including Mr. George.
However, the government has found fault with Mr. George for raising a special squad, Rural Tiger Force (RTF), without prior sanction of the State Police Chief. It viewed the RTF as a rogue unit that operated directly under Mr. George and with scant regard for law or human rights. The Crime Branch had arrested four RTF officers in connection with its investigation into Sreejith's death.
The government also blamed Mr. George for recurrently rewarding members of the RTF with cash awards and good service recommendations. His initial public comments defending the questionable police action that culminated in Sreejith’s death also came under severe criticism.
Officials privy to Mr. George’s defence said as DPC, he was well within his legal right to constitute special task forces to detect crime dynamically. The law also empowered DPCs to distribute awards. The police top brass was deeply divided over whether or not to suspend Mr. George.
However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s public position that Sreejith’s death had shamed the government weighed heavily against Mr. George.
The government could also not ignore the increasingly loud drumbeats in the media for the suspension of Mr. George in the run-up to the Chengannur byelection. Sreejith’s wife had also joined the chorus of public protests against Mr. George.
Top officials said Mr. George was not a target of the CB's murder inquiry so far. Their case was that the police had mindlessly arrested Sreejith from his house on the provocation of an informant and with no evidence of wrongdoing. The RTF men brutalised him, fatally, when he tried to resist the "unjust" midnight arrest.
