Police official suspended for destroying BJP flag post

Thiruvananthapuram:  The Kerala government has suspended an assistant sub-inspector of police for allegedly destroying a flag post of the BJP in neighbouring Ooruttambalam. Strongly reacting to the incident, the state unit of the BJP has demanded the arrest and dismissal of the official.

The incident came to light after a video recorded by a CCTV camera in the area went viral on social media yesterday. The footage showed a police vehicle arriving at a junction and a police officer, later identified as ASI Suresh Kumar, walks towards the post and pulls it down on Wednesday.

IG Manoj Abraham said the officer had been suspended and a departmental probe ordered into the incident. BJP demanded the dismissal of the official from service and registration of a criminal case against him. Party state president Kummanom Rajasekharan said today that mere suspension was not enough.

The police official who “attempted to trigger political clashes” in the area should be arrested and dismissed from service, he said, apparently referring to recurring political clashes involving CPI(M) and BJP/RSS workers in the state. “This is a clear incident that exposed where the police force under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has reached in the state”, Rajasekharan said.