DGP invites CM's ire for removing colleague from anti-piracy squad

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 8 (UNI) Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan today pulled up state Director General of Police Raman Srivastava for removing a colleague from the state's Anti-Piracy Cell while preparing for a raid on a studio owned by the wife of another IPS officer in Kochi and ordered his immediate reinstatement.

The Chief Minister summoned the DGP to his official residence this morning and reprimanded him.

Later, Mr Achuthanandan said IG Rishiraj Singh would be reinstated with immediate effect. The DGP could not justify the action of removing him from the Cell. ''This act of the DGP has dented the image of my government,'' he added.

State Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan also sought an explanation from the DGP on the issue.

The order for removal of Mr Singh from the post came last evening when the team was preparing to conduct a raid on the high tech audio-video studio owned by wife of IPS officer Tomin J Thachankary.

Meanwhile, the raid was carried out today following the Chief Minister's intervention. The raid was based on leads obtained during searches conducted at a leading video outlet in the state capital a few days ago. Police seized over 10,000 pirated CDs from the shop.

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