Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, on Monday, January 23, said that the state police has the reputation of being one of the best managed police forces in the country. Reading out the policy document of the state government in the Assembly, the Governor said, "Kerala Police has the reputation as one of the best managed State Police Forces in the country."
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) countered his statement by saying that the state police was in a "miserable condition" and had links to 'goondas' and drug mafias. Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Assembly VD Satheesan said, "Kerala Police is in a miserable condition. The state government is suspending and dismissing police personnel for doing mischief and having connections with 'goondas' and drug mafias."
Satheesan said that the opposition UDF has been for a long time contending that the Kerala Police has connections with drug mafias, 'goondas' and extremist outfits. "Now it has been proved that our allegations were true," he said.
"Even then the state government is claiming the police are fine," he added. Earlier, during his policy address, Governor Arif gave details of the various policing measures, like all police stations being under CCTV surveillance, implementation of the Automated Number Plate Recognition Cameras with facial recognition and a special app for locked house monitoring system, that were initiated by the state police.
"A separate Economic Offences Wing has been established for exclusive enquiry of economic offences," he said. Besides that, the Student Police Cadet Project has been extended to 100 new schools, he added.