(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue dated September 16, 2024)
As the relentless monsoon rains lash Kerala’s lush landscape, a different kind of storm is brewing in the state’s political corridors. The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government finds itself caught in a deluge of controversy, with allegations as torrential as the downpour outside. It all began on August 30 with a press conference called by P.V. Anvar, a two-term Independent legislator from Nilambur in Malappuram district. Not only did the CPI(M)-backed legislator unleash a flood of accusations against a senior police officer with close ties to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), he also charged CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s political secretary P. Sasi, who handles the home department on his behalf, with shielding corrupt cops. Over the next few days, Anvar kept firing fresh salvos, even releasing allegedly incriminating recorded phone conversations as evidence against additional director general of police (ADGP) M.R. Ajith Kumar and his purported aide, superintendent of police (SP) Sujith Das.
The timing couldn’t have been any worse for the Pinarayi government, which is already drawing flak for delaying the release of Hema Committee report that has triggered an avalanche of sexual harassment allegations against top Malayalam actors and filmmakers, including those close to the present regime. The latest string of allegations accuses the ADGP of links to gold smuggling rackets and criminal syndicates and of illegally acquiring wealth. It took Pinarayi three days to react and order a high-level inquiry even as leaders within both the ruling coalition and the Opposition mounted pressure on him, the latter even calling for his resignation. The whole episode has brought back memories of a similar controversy that had rocked the CMO in Pinarayi’s first tenure in 2020. Back then, it was his principal secretary and key troubleshooter M. Sivasankar who was suspended and later arrested by the Enforcement Directorate for his alleged role in the sensational diplomatic channel gold smuggling case.
What is rocking the CM’s boat
In the present case, the key piece of evidence that Anvar has offered is a recording of his alleged phone conversation with Sujith Das. Posted as SP in Pathanamthitta, Das had allegedly called the MLA to persuade him to withdraw a complaint in an illegal tree-felling case during his tenure in Malappuram. It was during this conversation that the SP, who himself is now caught in the eye of the storm, made some damning allegations. According to the MLA, both Kumar and Das were hand in glove and allegedly running an extensive racket to pocket gold seized from smugglers arriving from the Middle East at the Kozhikode airport.
Anvar even accused ADGP Kumar of tapping the phone calls of politicians and key officials, including the CM. Hinting that it was the CM’s political secretary and senior CPI(M) leader P. Sasi who had given Kumar unbridled powers, Anvar said he had failed to fulfil his responsibilities.
Policing the police
Responding to the gathering storm, Vijayan on September 2 promised a thorough investigation into the allegations. He made this announcement while addressing the police force at the Kerala Police Association’s annual convention in Kottayam. Without naming any officer, the CM said that discipline was of utmost importance, and any violation would not be tolerated. “Action will be taken accordingly,” he said. The state police chief, DGP Shaik Darvesh Saheb, and Kumar were present on the stage at the time.
Das was swiftly transferred the same day, without any fresh posting, and told to report to the DGP’s office. Sources say he faces certain suspension as he had committed grave misconduct when he pleaded with the legislator not to lodge complaints against him. Pinarayi also constituted a five-member team headed by the DGP to investigate all allegations made by Anvar and file a report within one month. The CM, say insiders, consulted senior party leaders and officials before deciding not to take any action against Kumar till the inquiry was over. The ADGP, it is learnt, in fact, had met the CM and requested him to investigate the MLA’s allegations.
Talking to india today, Kumar said he would cooperate with the investigation. “I have served the government in my 29-year-long service with dignity…. The allegations are false,” he added. A 1995-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, Kumar has held important posts in both the LDF and Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) regimes and was given charge of law & order in 2022. Seen as the blue-eyed boy of both Pinarayi and P. Sasi, he was recently directed by the CM to monitor the rescue operations after the landslides in Wayanad on July 30 and also briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit.
The cracks show up
Despite Pinarayi’s assurances, political headwinds against him are gaining speed. The Congress on September 2 organised statewide protests to demand his resignation. “CM Pinarayi Vijayan and his office stand exposed,” said leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan. “Earlier, his principal secretary was involved in a gold smuggling case. Now his key police officer has been exposed…. What explanation can the CM offer? He must go.”
The latest row has also exposed fissures within both the police department and the ruling coalition, with a “powerful lobby” including CPI(M) members and senior police officers alleged to be covertly supporting Anvar’s campaign. The MLA has denied this. Sources suggest that Kumar and DGP Darvesh Saheb have long been at odds, with the latter even approaching P. Sasi with grievances against his subordinate, who he feels has emerged as a “supercop” with the CMO’s backing. Once promoted to the DGP’s post out of turn, say insiders, Darvesh Saheb has now fallen out of favour.
There seems to be very little love lost between a section of LDF leaders and P. Sasi as well. After Anvar, Karat Razack, a former Independent MLA who, too, had the CPI(M)’s backing, has come forward to allege that even ruling party legislators don’t have access to the CMO ever since Sasi became political secretary. Adding to Pinarayi’s woes, his own party MLA and former minister K.T. Jaleel has announced that he will soon launch a website to expose all corrupt officials in the present regime. Curiously, the allegations have surfaced amid senior CPI(M) leader E.P. Jayarajan’s unceremonious removal from the post of LDF convenor.
A history of controversies
Pinarayi has so far not said a word on the allegations made against P. Sasi, who has maintained his innocence in whatever interactions he has had with the local media. An old warhorse of the party, Sasi had earlier served as political secretary to former CM E.K. Nayanar (1996-2001). Back then, he had faced allegations of shielding Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader P.K. Kunhalikutty in the infamous ice cream parlour sex case. Several politicians and other VIPs were named in the 1997 scandal that involved sexual exploitation of girls at an ice cream parlour being run as a brothel in Kozhikode.
Later, during his term as Kannur district secretary in 2010, Sasi himself faced sexual abuse charges from a Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) woman leader. Based on her complaint, the CPI(M) had demoted him before expelling him from the party in 2011. It was only in 2019 that Sasi was included in the party’s State Committee and Secretariat. Three years later, the CM brought him on board as his political secretary. Ever since, Sasi has only grown in influence, especially with the home department, and thus the police force, under his virtual charge.
But the main accuser in this case has his own fair share of controversies too. A businessman-turned-politician, Anvar belongs to a prominent family historically associated with the Congress. Representing Nilambur constituency as an Independent candidate since 2016, he has often found himself on the wrong side of the law due to his commercial activities—land encroachments, unauthorised constructions et al. The CPI(M) chose to look the other way as Anvar’s clout helped it widen its base in the IUML-dominated Malappuram district. But his ambitions of getting a ministerial berth, say sources, were never fulfilled. Now, as it turns out, he has put Pinarayi in a precarious position.
After firing salvos for four straight days, Anvar announced a ceasefire of sorts after meeting Pinarayi on September 3. During the meeting, which lasted for half an hour, Anvar submitted in writing all his allegations against Kumar and P. Sasi though both have denied any wrongdoing. Later, addressing the media, Anvar said the CM had given him a patient hearing and the assurance that “appropriate action” would be taken. For now, Anvar may have chosen to take a calculated retreat, but the deluge is far from over for the Pinarayi government.
Source Agencies
