Ramesh Chennithala slams Loknath Behera

Kozhikode: The Congress-led opposition on Thursday came down heavily on the way the state police chief Loknath Behera is running the department.

Speaking to the media here, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said Behera is running the police as his personal fiefdom, with the full support of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

"Never before has the state police chief posted officials in the Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau (VACB). Today it's Behera who does the posting and this is against the Vigilance manual. All those postings done by him should be cancelled," said Chennithala.

"Today the VACB is haunting the political rivals of Pinarayi Vijayan government. When Behera headed the VACB, the first thing what he did was to give a clean chit in a case, where his name figured," added Chennithala.

The VACB is now probing the role of two former State Ministers in the previous Oommen Chandy government, and it includes State PWD Minister V.K. Ebrahim Kunju and State Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar - both of whom are sitting legislators.

The Congress, ever since the CAG report on the Police had come out early this month, has been attacking Behera, as the report mentions his name and the numerous irregularities that have been cited.

With the State Assembly resuming its budget session from March 2, the opposition is getting ready to take on the Vijayan government.