Reporter's diary: No PR can salvage this cop’s reputation
The officer was serving as ASP (Assistant Superintendent of Police) in Thoothukudi during the anti-Sterlite protests.
CHENNAI: Are you a Rajini fan or Kamal fan?’ is one of the stock questions YouTubers ask while interviewing prominent personalities in the State. Given the rut this Tamil Nadu IPS officer has got himself into at present, one can be assured that such ‘image building’ interviews to YouTube channels are out of the question.
The officer was serving as ASP (Assistant Superintendent of Police) in Thoothukudi during the anti-Sterlite protests. There are several reports from the time that revealed that the officer started a lathi charge against the protesting public. Some reports also state that he had led a posse of cops who opened fire.
The point being that the officer is not exactly a stickler for rules when it comes to riot control measures. Bodies of 15 protesters due to police firing were proof that no rules were followed.
The IPS officer who takes pride in his wingspan was an avid social media user. It’s his alleged escapades with one of his female followers in Instagram that has landed him in trouble.
The woman filed a complaint to the DGP last year alleging that the officer cheated her after a relationship, following which a CB-CID inquiry was initiated against him. Moving the HC against an impending departmental action, our not so ‘stickler for rules’ accused the CB-CID of bias in investigation.
In effect, the officer, who ‘merely followed orders’ when people were killed in Thoothukudi now wants an impartial investigation. It wouldn’t be surprising if he’s repeating Rajinikanth’s notorious off-screen quote, ‘System seri illa’.