Thiruvananthapuram: A senior police official who initially probed the death of a security guard in Thrissur after being assaulted by a Kerala-based businessman was on Thursday suspended for alleged lapses in the investigation.
Jacob Job, now the Superintendent of Police, Pathanamthitta, was suspended pending inquiry, an official in the office of Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said.
Chandrabose, 50, was seriously injured when Muhammad Nisham allegedly mowed him down by his Hummer car in a fit of rage for delay in opening the gate of his apartment complex. The security guard had succumbed to injuries on February 16.
The Police officer was suspended on the basis of a department probe report, which was handed over to the Home Minister, the official said.
Job, who was the Thrissur Police Commissioner, had earlier been shifted to Pathanamthitta in the wake of the incident. It was alleged that Job, then Thrissur Police Commissioner, had questioned Nisham alone in violation of procedures.
His act caused suspicions about the motive of the probe.
Nisham, owner of King Beedi Co, was allegedly in an inebriated state when he physically assaulted the security guard and later rammed him with the SUV on January 29 at Sobha city, a posh residential township at Thrissur.
In the aftermath of the latest incident, there were reports that there was 'soft pedalling' of pending criminal cases against Nisham. But state DGP has denied the charge.