The Kerala Police on Friday registered a case against former police chief T.P. Senkumar on charges of spreading religious hatred.
The cyber wing of the Crime Branch booked the former director general of police (DGP) under IPC 153 (A) for instigating religious hatred through an interview given to a vernacular magazine. The case has been registered against the magazine which published the controversial interview as well.
The Crime Branch initiated the action based on the legal advice it received. Additional director-general of police (Crime) Nithin Agarwal, who is in charge of the investigation, consulted prosecution director general Manjeri Sreedharan Nair to seek his opinion on initiating a probe against Senkumar for his alleged remarks.
In the interview post his retirement on June 30, Senkumar had made several inflammatory remarks against a minority community, creating an uproar in social and political circles.
DGP Loknath Behera handed over the complaints against Senkumar to the Crime Branch to investigate the matter. He had received the nod from the legal adviser to the government before ordering the Cyber Cell wing of the Crime Branch to conduct a probe.
n a letter forwarded to the DGP, Senkumar claimed that he was misquoted by the magazine and added that he made no statements intended to hurt religious sentiments. The original and added that he made no statements intended to hurt religious sentiments. The original letter was sent to the editor of the magazine which, according to him, ‘twisted’ his comments.
However, the magazine has rubbished the allegations.
The DGP has handed over the letter to the Crime Branch team tasked with the probe.
