Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan's approach on police fraud 'very suspicious', must resign: Cong

Reacting to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report against Director General of Police Loknath Behera over "misuse of funds" allocated for modernization and the "missing rifles and ammunition", Congress MLA PT Thomas on Wednesday said that the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should resign if he was aware of the fraud committed by the officer. 

''This is the highest level of allegation against any DGP in the country," the Congress leader said. He further said that CM Pinarayi Vijayan's approach towards the allegations was "very suspicious" and asked the Chief Minister to reveal if the government was aware of the allegations. 

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"If the fraud was committed with the knowledge of the government, the CM Pinarayi is not entitled to remain in this position for one minute. The Chief Minister should not think that if he laughed at this, the people of Kerala would be contained. There needs to be a thorough investigation," Thomas said in a press conference in Kochi. 

"If the Chief Minister was unaware of what Behra did then he should be removed from the post of DGP and this case should be investigated by a national agency like the CBI," the Congress MLA added. 

READ | No Rifles Missing, Says Kerala Police, As Opposition Slams Govt, DGP

Congress demands the removal of DGP

Ramesh Chennithala, Leader of Opposition also wrote a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan demanding a probe into the alleged corrupt deals of Kerala Police, revealed in the CAG report.

Chennithala has called it an issue pertaining to state security and slammed the chief minister for his silence on it, however, CM Vijayan has said that he will respond to it on the floor of the Assembly next month.

READ | Congress Attacks CM Pinarayi Vijayan's Silence On CAG Report Accusing Kerala Police Of Corruption

Congress has demanded the removal of DGP Loknath Behera and also demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the purchase of VVIP bulletproof vehicles by the state police.

A CAG report has found that 25 rifles and 12,061 live cartridges were "missing" from the possession of Kerala's Special Armed Police Battalion (SAPB). It also said that the state police duped the funds allocated for the modernization of forces and used on buying luxury cars for senior officers instead of procuring vehicles for police stations.

READ | CAG Flags Missing Rifles & Cartridges From SAPB, Kerala Police Accused Of Cover-Up

(With inputs from ANI)