Government orders preliminary Vigilance inquiry against ADGP M.R. Ajith Kumar

State government orders anti-corruption inquiry against ADGP M.R. Ajith Kumar amidst accusations, potential removal from top post.

The State government has ordered an anti-corruption inquiry against Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Law and Order, M.R. Ajith Kumar, who has been the target of across-the-political-aisle accusations of corruption, nepotism and criminality since August.

It has tasked the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) with a preliminary inquiry to examine whether the charges against the ranking officer revealed a cognisable offence that merited further investigation and subsequent prosecution.

Official sources said the anti-corruption probe might be a precursor to Mr. Ajith Kumar’s removal from the top law and order post. However, given the probe’s nascent stage, any disciplinary action, if at all, was unlikely soon and would require a political decision.

State Police Chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb had recommended a preliminary anti-corruption probe against the officer last week.

Earlier, Left Democratic Front Independent legislator P.V. Anvar had stirred the pot by accusing Mr. Ajith Kumar of amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income, using plainclothes squads to waylay gold smugglers for their contraband in North Kerala, and other alleged offences, including custodial murder and disappearances. 

He had also singled out the prime property purchased by Mr. Ajith Kumar near the Kowdiar Palace in Thiruvananthapuram as an instance of alleged big-ticket corruption.

Mr. Ajith Kumar’s top post and All India Service rules precluded him from responding publicly to the charges against him. Hence, he petitioned Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Mr. Saheb for an independent and high-level probe to clear his name.