Tanur CI transferred; move suspected to thwart WhatsApp hartal enquiry

Malappuram: Allegations have surfaced that there have been attemps to thwart the probe into the the origin of the call for hartal via WhatsApp that took place of 16^th last month.

As a first step of this move, the enquiry officer Circle Inspector C. Alavi has been transferred from Malappuram to Palakkad Crime Branch. The sudden transfer came at a stage when all those who unleashed violence under the cover of hartal were about to be caught.

The allegation is that an officer who was bent on arresting everybody without succumbing to political pressure is being removed from the role. It is learned that most of the accused and have been caught are sympathisers of CPM, and the one yet to be caught belong to either CPM or Muslim League.

A transfer of a crucial officer in the know of things, at this stage is sure to be seen as a move to weaken the follow up enquiry. So far 28 people have been arrested for attacks against shope and police, out of whom 19 are in remand. The others were released on bail from police station. Several more remain to be caught. The main accused in the attack on a bakery was arrest only on Tuesday.

After the incidents, the police had gathered the CCTV videos of all the commercial establishments in Tanur, and it was based on them that the accused were caught. As a result, several went absconding fearing arrest. In the case of the transferred inspector, even earlier he had incurred the disleasure of political parties because of his uncompromising stances, and several attempts made to transfer him too.