Kerala Suspends Two IAS Officers For 'Violation Of Discipline' Amid Row Over Religious WhatsApp Group

While K Gopalakrishnan was the Director of Industries and Commerce, N Prasanth held the responsibility of Special Secretary in the Department of Agriculture Development and Farmers' Welfare.

The WhatsApp group ‘Mallu Hindu Officers’ was deleted hours after its creation.

Source : Pixabay

The Kerala government on Monday suspended IAS officers, K Gopalakrishnan and N Prasanth, for violation of discipline. Officials said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ordered the suspension of the officials based on the report he received from the Chief Secretary.

According to a report in PTI, Gopalakrishnan was suspended for creating a religion-based WhatsApp group, while action was taken against Prasanth for criticising a senior officer. While Gopalakrishnan was the Director of Industries and Commerce, Prasanth held the responsibility of Special Secretary in the Department of Agriculture Development and Farmers' Welfare.

The development comes after a controversy over a WhatsApp group created exclusively for Hindus allegedly by IAS officer K Gopalakrishnan, the director of industries and commerce. 

The WhatsApp group ‘Mallu Hindu Officers’ which had IAS officers solely from the Hindu community was deleted hours after its creation. 

Kerala State Industries Minister P Rajeeve last week ordered an investigation into the creation of the WhatsApp group.

Meanwhile, Gopalakrishnan claimed that his phone was hacked and filed a complaint with the Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner seeking an inquiry into the matter.

According to PTI sources, the officer claimed that he did not form the group nor add any participants and stated that his account was compromised to create what appeared to be a community-based platform. Upon realising the group’s existence, he allegedly promptly reported it and dismantled it.

However, the Kerala police on Saturday said that the phone of the IAS officer was completely reset and the forensics could not ascertain whether it was hacked as claimed by him. Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner Sparjan Kumar said that it remains unclear whether the device was compromised, as it had been reset.

According to a report in The News Minute, the group was created in connection with the Diwali celebrations. The Whatsapp group was deleted a day after some IAS officers raised their concerns with Gopalakrishnan. Following this, the IAS officers also received a message from Gopalakrishnan, claiming that his mobile phone has been hacked.

Why Was N Prasanth Suspended? 

N Prasanth recently took to Facebook to accuse A Jayathilak, the Additional Chief Secretary, of orchestrating baseless news reports against him. In his post, Prasanth alleged that Jayathilak had become a special reporter' and was working to undermine him by spreading unfounded allegations through the media.

Attacking Jayathilak, the post read, "I feel compelled to share some important facts about Jayathilak, a senior IAS officer, that the public deserves to know. Although I generally avoid discussing government matters in public, there seems to be no alternative at this point. My intention is to reveal only those issues that the public has the right to know, in accordance with the Right to Information." 

The issue surfaced following a media report that alleged lapses on Prasanth's part, claiming that several crucial files from 'Unnathi'--an initiative dedicated to the welfare of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs)--had mysteriously gone missing during his tenure as its CEO.

The report also claimed that Jayathilak had submitted a report on this matter to Chief Minister Vijayan. Prasanth, who previously served as Kozhikode District Collector and in other top posts, is popularly known as 'Collector Bro' and had earlier posted on Facebook to refute the allegations against him.