Arjun Raghunath
The New Indian Express
16 Mar 2011
THIRUVANATHAPURAM: The Rajan case, Naxal Varghese case, Chalai and Poonthura riots, Marad massacre, police actions at Muthanga and Sivagiri, ThankamaniUdayakumar custodial tortures the list of law and order issues that figured in the previous election campaigns is long. To his credit, Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has not left behind any major embarrassing situation for the government at least on electioneve. However, the campaign may be vitiated by the CheriyathuraKasargod police firings which claimed several lives, Sampath custodial death, chopping of Prof T J Joseph's palm and the political violence in Kannur.
Kodiyeri made various initiatives in the Police Department, including the enactment of new Kerala Police Act and the Kerala AntiSocial Activities Prevention Act, strengthening of community policing system by giving it legal sanctity, forming Home Guard and Student Police units and streamlining the recruitment process in the department. He also brought in cosmetic changes in the police like replacing the riflecarrying sentries in front of police stations and setting up of visitor's desk at the police station. However, he did not make any remarkable improvement in the law and order situation in the state.
The vital statistics of the Kodiyeri reign reveal the following. Nearly 2,000 murders, over 30,000 incidents of harassment against women and children, 12 custodial deaths, over 30 complaints of custodial torture and robbery of valuables worth over `300 crore. There is a huge trust deficit between the people and the police.
Kodiyeri had allowed his party cadre to exert pressure on the cops as a result of which Left activists forcibly released political activists from police stations. The Police Department was politicised in transfers, postings and routine policing. His political bosses forced Kodiyeri to act against IG Rishiraj Singh for raiding the digital studio of IG Tomin Thachankary's wife. Thachankary, connected with a section in the CPM top brass, was also given a key posting as IG Kannurrange, despite a strict directive from Chief Minister that the tainted officer should not be posted in key posts. The proLeft cadre in the police also gained more strength with the silent blessings of Kodiyeri. He held the Vigilance portfolio but failed to wipe out corruption from the government, especially the Police Department.
Kodiyeri landed in a number of controversies, including the lavish refurbishing of his official residence. He was also haunted by the alleged nexus of his son Bineesh with shady characters like Sabarinath, Omprakash, Madathil Reghu and even a foreign call girl, hifi reception allegedly organised by controversial business man Xavy Mano Mathew during his elder son Benoy Kodiyeri's marriage and the 'poomoodal' ritual at the Kadampuzha Devi temple in his name.
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