In a major reshuffle of the top brass of the police, the Kerala government has transferred S Sreejith, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of the Crime Branch and posted him as Transport Commissioner. In an order issued by the General Administration Department on April 22, Friday, Shaik Darvesh Saheb, ADGP Prisons, has been transferred and posted as ADGP Crime Branch. Sudeshkumar, Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has been transferred and posted as Director General of Police (DGP) Prisons. Transport Commissioner Ajithkumar has been transferred and posted as ADGP Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau.
The transfer of Sreejith comes at a time when the Crime Branch has been probing two cases — the sexual assault of a female actor allegedly masterminded by actor Dileep and Dileep allegedly hatching a conspiracy to kill police officials who investigated the assault case. The assault case pertains to an incident of a female actor being sexually assaulted in a moving vehicle in Kochi in February 2017. Sreejith was appointed as the head of the special investigation team formed to investigate the conspiracy case against Dileep. Dileep’s lawyers had recently leveled accusations against Sreejith of fabricating evidence against Dileep.
The new team to investigate the actor assault case was formed in January 2022. While Sreejith was picked to head the team, Inspector General of Crime Branch KP Philip was also part of it. The new team was formed as ADGP B Sandhya who was heading the probe into the case, had been posted as the head of the Kerala Fire and Rescue Services. The team was also constituted in view of various allegations raised by director Balachandrakumar in connection with the case. Several crucial developments happened in the cases after Sreejith assumed charge as the head of the new team.
Actor Manju Warrier on April 22, once again gave a statement in the case related to the actor assault. Weeks ago, cyber expert Sai Shankar alleged that Dileep's advocate had asked him to remove a large amount of data from the actor's phones. Sai Shankar is one of the accused in the conspiracy case. The Crime Branch on April 22 moved court to cancel the bail given to Dileep in the actor assault case. Officials alleged that he has been trying to influence witnesses in the case and tamper with evidence.