Sreejith custodial death: Kerala govt transfers Ernakulam Rural SP AV George

AV George was tight-lipped when asked if he felt that this transfer is some sort of a disciplinary action against him.

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A senior Kerala Police official - Ernakulam's Superintendent of Police, Rural, AV George on Saturday was transferred in wake of the ongoing Crime Branch probe into a custodial death in the district.

Already a Sub-Inspector of Police and the three policemen who first took into custody the victim, 26-year-old Sreejith, have been arrested and according to informed police sources, more action against police officials, including George, is imminent.

Incidentally the three arrested policemen all are directly under the charge of George and just before their arrest, the three of them, in a video later shown on TV channels, had feared that they would be made scapegoats to save top officers.

George has been in the news for a while as he was involved in the arrest of PDP leader Abdul Nasir Maudany a few years back, probed the actress kidnap case, which led to the arrest of superstar Dileep and a few other high-profile cases.

He was tight-lipped when asked if he felt that this transfer is some sort of a disciplinary action against him.

The action against George has come at a time with the Congress-led opposition are up in arms over the custodial death as State Congress President M M Hassan has demanded that George be suspended and Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala is going on a 24 hour fast on Monday at Kochi demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the custodial death.

Trouble started for Sreejith after 56-year-old Vasudevan hanged himself after a group of men barged into his house and threatened him.

A special squad took Sreejith, father of a two-year-old, and nine others into custody on April 7 and charged them with abetment to suicide and rioting. Subsequently, Sreejith was taken to a hospital where he died on April 9.

The state government earlier suspended the Circle Inspector, Sub-Inspector Deepak and two other policemen of the Varapuzha police station in the case.

