Reporter’s diary: IPS officer transferred for alleged friendship with DMK top brass?

It is widely rumoured in the corridors of Fort St George that the officer brought it upon himself by publicly revealing his alleged rapport with the DMK top brass. The officer was understood to have told his colleagues during an election review meeting that a senior leader at the DMK helm had personally contacted him over the phone to complain about the party in power. In another instance, the decorated cop had bragged about the top brass of the principal opposition party contacting him regularly to apprise him of the conduct of his subordinates. So much so that a comprehensive intelligence report on election debacle sent to the chief minister’s office had specific chapters dedicated to the top cop’s rapport with the opposition during the election, especially a specific instance when he had reprimanded a few junior officers for working to the satisfaction of local leaders of the ruling party via video conference. The report, which had described the officer as a “friend” of the opposition, was also learnt to have accused him of “siding” with the opposition when differences had emerged between the ruling and opposition parties in a district in western Tamil Nadu. The buzz in the babus’ circle was that the DMK had contributed to the officer’s ouster.