Kerala Industries Minister P Rajeeve, on Monday, November 4, said that the government would probe the controversy regarding the WhatsApp group created exclusively for Hindus allegedly by IAS officer K Gopalakrishnan, the director of industries. 

 “Even though this has got nothing to do with my department, we are all seized of the issue. We will be examining the whole issue and what and how this happened. Moreover, the media has also reported that a similar group of Muslim officials is there. So we will examine everything on what’s this all about,” the Minister said. 

Bureaucrat Gopalakrishnan who works under Minister Rajeeve allegedly created a WhatsApp group named 'Mallu Hindu Officers' with only Hindu IAS officers as its members. Several IAS officers were offended with the actions of the director of Industries. However, following backlash, the IAS officer claimed that his phone was hacked, and filed a complaint with the police.

The said group had 11 Hindu IAS officers and was reportedly created a few days ago in connection with the Diwali celebrations. It was deleted a day after some IAS officers raised their concerns with Gopalakrishnan. Soon after, the IAS officers received a message from Gopalakrishnan, stating that his mobile phone was hacked. “It appears that someone has taken control of my mobile device, creating 11 groups and adding all my contacts. I have uninstalled the app and manually removed the groups from my WhatsApp and I will be changing my phone soon,” he explained in a note.

Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan is expected to seek an explanation  from Gopalakrishnan regarding the issue. 

(With IANS inputs)