M.V. Jayarajan blames then DySP, Deputy Collector for Koothuparamba firing, says new Kerala DGP had no role

Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leader M.V. Jayarajan on Thursday said the primary responsibility for the Koothuparamba police firing lay with the then DySP Hakeem Bathery and Deputy Collector T.T. Antony, and not with the newly appointed Kerala DGP Ravada A. Chandrashekhar.

Addressing the controversy surrounding the DGP’s appointment, Mr. Jayarajan said that Mr. Chandrashekhar, the then ASP, had no role in the 1994 incident and was not part of any conspiracy.

“All these facts have been clearly established in the findings of the commission that investigated the firing,” he said.

He added that Mr. Chandrashekhar had “not even spoken to the Minister before firing and played no operational or decision-making role.”

Defending the DGP’s appointment, Mr. Jayarajan said it was done in the strict adherence to the Supreme Court guidelines

“A five-member expert panel of the UPSC submitted a list of three officers from which the State government selected one,“ he stated.