Senior cop to probe harassment of father- daughter duo by pink police officer in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala southern region IG, Harshita Athalloori was on Tuesday deputed to investigate the incident in which a man and his minor daughter were publicly questioned and accused of theft by a pink police patrol officer in Attingal recently.

A decision in this regard was taken after the man and his daughter lodged a complaint with state police chief Anil Kant at the Police Headquarters, seeking further probe into the incident, a release issued by the state police media centre said.

On August 29, the woman officer was transferred to the Kollam district of the State.

The order, issued by the Thiruvananthapuram Range DIG Sanjay Kumar Gurudin, directed the officer to also undergo special training for 15 days as part of the disciplinary action taken against her.

The action was taken as the officer had failed to tender an apology to the father and daughter when it was clear that they were not involved in the theft.

The incident had taken place on August 27 when the man and his daughter had gone to Thumba to watch the movement of cargo to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre there.

The woman officer, who was tasked with traffic regulation at Thumba, blamed the man and the girl for the missing mobile phone that was kept in a police vehicle.

A video that had gone viral purportedly showed the officer and her colleague frisking the man and the girl for the lost phone. The girl, aged 8, was seen crying.

When an onlooker dialed the phone number of the officer, a beep came from the vehicle. Only then did the officer and her colleague realise they had wrongly accused the man and the girl.

However, instead of tendering an apology to them, the officer and the colleague left the scene.