Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty on Friday hit out at former DGPs and BJP leaders R Sreelekha and T P Senkumar, questioning whether their alleged adverse remarks against the police were applicable with retrospective effect.
Sivankutty raised the query during a press conference held here by him.
The two former DGPs during a recent protest had remarked "poda pulle police" (get lost police), the CPI (M) leader claimed.
He also alleged that Sreelekha made threats against the Thiruvananthapuram city police commissioner and posted a screenshot of the same on social media.
"What right does she have to do that," he questioned.
He also contended that on entering the political sphere, the formers DGPs should not use the IPS suffix along with their names, especially when contesting in elections.
Important decisions taken by the two officers while in service need to be examined, he said.
Responding, Sreelekha said that she had used that phrase against police officers who committed mistakes even when she was in service.
She said that many police officers who committed serious mistakes or were corrupt were suspended from service, some were dismissed, and many others were booked and convicted in graft cases, but no political or police association leader spoke against her.
But when she used that phrase after retirement against an officer who committed a mistake, people are finding fault in it, she claimed in a social media post.
She had used the term while protesting against the alleged police violence against BJP workers recently by officers of Vattiyoorkavu police station.
A councillor in the Thiruvananthapuram corporation, Sreelekha is also the BJP candidate in the April 9 Assembly polls in the state's Vattiyoorkavu constituency.
Sivankutty further said that he suspects that all the systems put in place by the Left, when it ruled the civic body in the past, have "rusted".
"People have to cover their nose and mouth while walking on the city's streets due to mountains of garbage lying around. The Haritha Karma Sena which collects plastic waste is not functioning properly in many places, waste disposal has turned into a photo or reel opportunity, street dog menace has increased and the city is completely dark at night," Sivankutty alleged.
"Those ruling the corporation have turned it into an example of carelessness," he said.
The minister also termed as a "joke" the alleged remark by corporation mayor V V Rajesh that the civic body was not responsible for the drinking water problems of the city and it was the duty of the water authority.
"It is a highly irresponsible comment by the mayor," he contended.