Swift action against police, in line with government policy

Even in the Kallakurichi tragedy, the government reacted quickly, removing the district collector, Sravan Kumar Jatavath, after he denied that illegal liquor was a factor in the deaths, leading to more people using the same smugglers.

Strict action has been taken against Kallakurichi Superintendent of Police, Samaya Singh Meena, who was suspended from duty for failing to stop illegal arrack trade in his area.

In fact, the government did not stop at the SP alone, but at the entire gamut of personnel in the district police prohibition unit. All had to pay the price for the department’s failure that led to the deaths of almost 65 people.

Similarly, Rathore was removed from the duties of the police commissioner and sent to the Police Training College in Chennai. ADGP A Arun, who handled law and order, was posted as the police commissioner.

The transfers were carried out immediately and Arun, on assuming office, spoke to the media about his plans and vision for improving law and order in the state capital, thereby instilling hope in the minds of the people.

These swift actions, suspensions and transfers were in sharp contrast to the government’s earlier practice of not taking action against policemen even when they were caught making mistakes. Like the shooting in Thoothukudi of protesters opposing the Sterlite plant.

Even when Special Director General Rajesh Das was accused of sexually harassing a young IPS officer while she was on duty providing security to the then chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, the government did not take him on board.

Instead, the courts had to detain and convict him later. The government that day failed to play its role against this officer who turned out to be a sexual predator.

However, the DMK government, by quickly transferring Rathore, sent a signal to the police that they either fasten their seat belts or face the consequences.

Although police managed to arrest Armstrong’s killers within hours of the incident, there were later failures in organizing traffic and controlling the crowds that came to pay their respects to the deceased leader.

It was also indeed a failure of the police intelligence wing to sense the plot, which had been hatched by the killers long before their plans were carried out. The police only learned of all this through the statements of those arrested.

If the intelligence services had notified the attack in advance, the government could have prevented such a catastrophe and also gained a bad reputation.