Congress writes to Kerala CM, seeks NIA probe against State Police chief Loknath Behera

The Congress party has now demanded the Kerala government to remove State Police chief Loknath Behera. The party on Thursday wrote a letter to the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan seeking the removal of State Police chief and also demanded a CBI and NIA probe into serious findings against him by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) 2019, report that was released on Wednesday.

While talking about the letter, Kerala CM Vijayan told the media, that he is yet to see the letter of Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala.

Reacting to the letter, the Kerala CM stated that there are procedures in the way CAG reports are handled, and he will respond to what has surfaced in the state assembly.

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The Kerala Assembly is next scheduled to meet on March 2. State Police chief Loknath Behera has refused to comment on the matter. 

Chennithala has reportedly written to CM Pinarayi Vijayan and stated that Behera is one of the senior-most officials in the country and has blatantly violated all basic guidelines. He wrote about how the CAG report makes glaring omissions on the part of the police chief, and hence he needs to be sacked.

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Ramesh Chennithala to meet Kerala Guv. Arif Mohammed Khan

Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala is also reportedly expected to meet Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan in the next few days to brief him on the issue.

Senior Congress legislator, P.T. Thomas, who had raised allegations of corruption against Behera on the Assembly floor stated that what the CAG report has revealed is only the tip of the iceberg. While interacting with the media, Thomas stated that the state police chief is the highest officer in the Police department and hence should step down. Thomas also demanded CM Vijayan to order a probe by an outside agency, according to reports.

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(with inputs from agencies)