ADGP’s report on Thrissur Pooram disruption leaked, blames Thiruvambady devaswom

The inquiry report by MR Ajith Kumar on the disruption of Thrissur Pooram festivities, which was dismissed by the DGP as “wanting” and “incomplete” and a copy of which was leaked to the media on Monday, has allegedly blamed the Thiruvambady devaswom for intentionally spoiling the festivities for vested interests.

Thiruvambady devaswom, or temple administration, is one of the two major participants of the Thrissur Pooram, a mega festival that takes place annually in the city of Thrissur in central Kerala.

Ajith Kumar, recently promoted as DGP by the state government and accused by the Congress of disrupting the Pooram to create a conducive atmosphere for the BJP candidate in the Lok Sabha elections Suresh Gopi, has allegedly claimed in his report that the devaswom interrupted the rituals and made demands that could not be met by any government system.

“This shows they (Thiruvambady devaswom) were not conducting Pooram but deliberately sabotaging it for vested interests,” it alleged.

The report said that the rituals went on smoothly until 1 am on April 20 and that the disruption took place when the devaswom stopped the “Madathil Varavu” procession, sent back six captive elephants that had been brought for the “ezhunallath” (procession), switched off lights inside the pandals and created law and order issues on MG Road inside the town.

Kumar claimed in his report that there were no shortcomings on the part of the police and that its personnel interacted cordially with the public and devaswom staff to ensure a safe and peaceful Pooram. He said the devaswom’s actions were aimed at creating an anti-LDF government sentiment which would aid the candidates of other parties in the Lok Sabha elections that followed a week later. In the results, Gopi of BJP was able to win from the Thrissur seat by a handsome margin of over 60,000 votes over LDF’s VS Sunil Kumar.

The ADGP’s report has no standing as the DGP had dismissed it as “incomplete” earlier this year. The state government subsequently announced a three-level inquiry probe to be led by the DGP Shaik Darvesh Saheb. It’s report is yet to be submitted to the government.

The Thiruvambady devaswom on Monday rejected the findings of the report and called for a CBI probe.

CPI leader VS Sunil Kumar said it was suspicious that a copy of the report, which was not even released as per the RTI Act despite his application, has suddenly made its way to the media at this juncture. “I have the doubt that the report is aimed at protecting a few persons. It is incomplete. It was dismissed by the DGP. How did the report suddenly come out? Also, I completely do not agree with the Thiruvambady devaswom solely being blamed for the disruption,” said Kumar.

Congress leader K Muraleedharan said the report was a “nonsensical whitewash job”.