Thiruvananthapuram | A Crime Branch inspector in Kerala, who was facing charges of allegedly sexually assaulting a woman complainant, has been expelled from service.

Director General of Police (DGP) Anil Kant issued an order removing R Sivasankaran, a crime branch inspector in northern Kasaragod, with immediate effect, an official statement here said.

The officer was found to be "behaviourally unfit" to continue in the position and the decision to remove him from the service was taken under the Section 86 (3) of the Kerala Police Act.

A serial offender, the accused officer had been suspended four times since 2006 and faced departmental action 11 times as part of various disciplinary proceedings, it said.

The charges he had faced included rape, illegally amassing property, implicating innocent people in cases, trespassing and so on, it said.

In the present case, the officer was served a show-cause notice and the DGP himself heard his defence.

But, the decision to remove him was taken as the police chief found that his arguments were baseless, the statement added.