The State government on Sunday transferred Thrissur District Police Chief Ankit Asokan and Assistant Commissioner Sudarshan with the permission of the Election Commission of India, even as the controversy surrounding the delay in the Thrissur Pooram fireworks display and alleged excessive police restrictions on the public appeared to snowball into a major issue in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency just days ahead of the elections.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has also ordered the State Police Chief to conduct a probe into the multiple complaints regarding the conduct of the police machinery during the Thrissur Pooram festivities on Friday and submit a report within a week.
Thorough probe
Earlier in the day, speaking to presspersons in Kasaragod, Mr. Vijayan said that a thorough probe needed to be conducted into the events of the day. “We need to ascertain exactly what happened on the day, since we have received some serious complaints regarding this. Two complaints have been received, one from the devaswom and the other from mediapersons regarding the conduct towards them. Due to the elections, there are certain restrictions on the government to intervene in this matter, although we have taken a serious view of it. But, we have sought a report from the State Police Chief. Based on the probe, all the required actions will be taken,” he said.
He said that the government had extended all possible support for the conduct of the pooram. Mr. Vijayan said that though the devaswom authorities had invited him to take part in the pooram festivities, he could not attend due to scheduled election campaigning in other districts.
UDF, BJP flay govt.
Meanwhile, both the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have lashed out at the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government for the police restrictions and the four-hour delay in the fireworks. Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan wondered whether the events of the day were engineered to ensure gains for the BJP in the upcoming polls, even as he expressed confidence of a UDF victory.
“All these unsavoury events happened in the presence of two Ministers, but the blame is only directed at the Commissioner. The government and some officials had attempted to disrupt the pooram even two months ago,” he alleged.
BJP State president K. Surendran alleged that the District Police Chief had attempted to disrupt the festivities with the full knowledge of the Chief Minister.
V.S.Sunilkumar, LDF candidate in the Thrissur constituency, appeared on a Facebook live video and expressed dismay at being personally targeted by certain quarters. “I have been an avid pooram watcher since the early 1990s and have been part of its organising at various levels since 2006. All of us were pained at what happened during the pooram this year. Minister K. Rajan had intervened immediately. I was also part of the discussions with the devaswom authorities to ensure the smooth conduct of the fireworks. The Thiruvambadi Devaswom also took a mature stand. There is some truth in their allegations regarding the conduct of some police officers. It is natural for the issue to gain importance during the election season, but unfortunately it is being used politically,” he said.
