A police officer was suspended in Alappuzha for writing a Facebook post supporting an SI, who had been suspended for abusing and detaining media persons in Kozhikode.
Alappuzha District Police Chief suspended Rajagopal Arunima, a civil police officer at Alappuzha armed reserve on Thursday, for posting content against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the judiciary.
On July 30, Kozhikode SI Vimodh prevented journalists from entering Kozhikode court, allegedly under the instruction of the zilla judge. This incident spurred the ongoing lawyers-media personnel feud in the state.
In his Facebook post, dated August 1 (that has since been taken down), Rajagopal wrote that he finds no fault in what SI Vimodh had done.
“What sort of a governance is this? An honest officer who was only following instructions and doing his job gets suspended,” his post reads.
He also ridiculed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s statement calling the incident as police brutality and pinned the responsibility of the incident on the judiciary.
Courtesy: reporterlive.com
“If it is the court that gave the instruction to prevent journalists from entering the court, and the CM calls it brutality, was it not the judiciary who asked the police to do so?” he asks.
The decision to suspend the officer, Rajagopal wrote, would discourage officers from doing their work honestly. Rajagopal goes on to criticise Pinarayi Vijayan, writing, “Police officers wouldn’t have had to go through all this, if only the person who is hailed as gutsy had a backbone at least.”
He goes on to say that no government would protect the interests of the cops and instead gives undue freedom to “the forth gender” (as the media was referred to by lawyers during the scuffle).
Rajagopal also updated his profile picture to SI Vimodh's photo, with "#Suppot_SI_Vimodh_Mohanan, I will support" written on it.
Alappuzha District Police Chief A Akbar informed that Rajagopal was on Thursday morning suspended with immediate effect. “Based on a preliminary report by the DC, I have issued suspension order to the officer. We also instructed him to take down the post. Disciplinary action will be taken after a detailed enquiry," he said.
An officer at the armed reserve said that the incident came to light when a regional media reported it. The officer’s statement was also recorded.
“This is a clear breach of discipline. An officer cannot criticize the government or the judiciary while he is in service. Disciplinary action is bound to happen,” the officer said.