Thiruvananthapuram/Malappuram | The ruling LDF in Kerala on Wednesday supported Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's decision to take no action against ADGP (Law and Order) M R Ajithkumar, who faces various allegations of wrongdoing and meeting RSS leaders, levelled by Left MLA P V Anvar, until the probe is completed.
As Anvar stepped up his attack on the ADGP from one side and the opposition Congress sought action against the IPS officer from another, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan intervened in the matter by seeking a report from the Chief Minister on the allegation that the police tapped the phone calls of ministers.
Anvar, a businessman-turned-politician and MLA from the Nilambur Assembly constituency, recently alleged that ADGP Ajithkumar tapped the phones of ministers, political leaders, and journalists. He also alleged that Ajithkumar had close ties to gold smuggling rackets and was involved in several serious crimes.
Additionally, Anvar sought action against the senior police official after news of his meeting with two RSS leaders in 2023 surfaced in the media.
However, despite criticism of the ADGP and strong demands from its few partners, including the CPI, to take action against the official, the CPI(M)-led LDF said that no further steps would be taken until the government receives the report of the comprehensive investigation initiated into the allegations against the IPS officer made by Nilambur MLA Anvar.
LDF convener T P Ramakrishnan said that in a meeting of the Left front held during the day, it was decided that the allegations against the ADGP require a comprehensive investigation.
"The government has initiated the probe. Once the investigation report comes, if a wrong is found to have been committed (by the ADGP), he will not be protected for any reason and strict action will be taken.
"This is the government's decision and the LDF supports it," he said at a press conference held here after the Left front meeting in the afternoon.
Ramakrishnan, who recently replaced CPI(M) veteran E P Jayarajan as the LDF convener, said no action can be taken based on allegations.
"We have to ascertain if the allegations are true. So, let's wait for that. Why can't you (media) wait for the investigation report?" he asked.
Regarding the ADGP's meeting with an RSS leader in May last year, the LDF convener said the fact that Ajithkumar met that person was not a problem.
"Why he (ADGP) met the RSS leader is the problem," he said.
The Congress, on the other hand, urged Vijayan to address the serious allegations against his close aides, Ajithkumar and political secretary P Sasi, rather than lecturing the opposition.
The grand old party was responding to Vijayan's remarks, on Tuesday, rubbishing the Congress's allegations that the ruling CPI(M) and the Left government led by it had a nexus with the RSS, saying such charges are being rejected with the contempt they deserve.
Coming down heavily on the chief minister, the Congress said the people of the state, who know history, would dismiss with contempt Vijayan's claim that it was the Marxist party that had opposed the RSS in Kerala and the Congress had no role in it.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan, posed seven questions to Vijayan and accused the Left veteran of playing the hide and seek game without giving a clear reply.
The questions raised by Satheesan included "whether Left leader E P Jayarajan was removed as LDF convener because of his meeting with BJP's Prakash Javadekar and if so, shouldn't CM Vijayan be fired first, given his public admission of meeting Javadekar multiple times?"
He also asked what message the government was giving to the general public by protecting the ADGP, who regularly visits RSS leaders and holds talks.
Later in the day, an official source revealed that the Governor has sent a letter to the chief minister, seeking an update on the government's actions regarding the alleged "serious offences" raised by Anvar against the police.
Raj Bhavan views the alleged phone tapping of ministers by the police as a violation of the law and Supreme Court guidelines, the source said.
The Governor has also asked for details about a leaked phone conversation between Anvar and IPS officer Sujith Das, who had served as the district police chief of Malappuram and Pathanamthitta. Das was suspended following the leak of his phone conversation with the Nilambur MLA.
Meanwhile, Anvar, in a press conference held in Malappuram, stepped up his attack on the ADGP and Sasi by accusing them of acting in a manner adversarial to the interests of the government.
The Nilambur MLA claimed that the police probe in various cases, including the burning of Swami Sandeepananda Giri's ashram, were sabotaged by a "criminal group" in the force headed by Ajithkumar and that Sasi did not bring it to the CM or the government's attention.
Anvar also claimed that Sasi did not inform the government, the party or the CM about intelligence reports regarding ADGP Ajithkumar's meeting with an RSS leader as well as alleged phone tapping of various political leaders ordered by him.
"The political secretary is not fulfilling his responsibilities. It was part of his duty to inform the party and the government about the bad elements in the police force to help weed out the same. But he did not," Anvar alleged.
