THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Home Department has given a mere warning to DySP KB Prafulachandran, who gave instructions to write off the brutal Varapuzha Sreejith custodial death case as a suicide. This soft approach comes amid the move of the government to dismiss the criminals in the police force.

When Prafulachandran misinformed the district police head that Sreejith had died in a fight and that there had been no police lapse, the departmental investigation discovered severe mistakes on his behalf. The Crime Branch had named 9 policemen, including CI Crispin Sam, as the accused in the case. It also charged 4 of the accused with murder. The Crime Branch IG had found that Prafulachandran, who was in charge of supervising the Varapuzha station, had made serious lapses. Prafulachandran had granted leave for two days to SHO GS Deepak. The DySP did not focus on maintaining law and order or investigating the cases even though he knew that there was no SHO at the station. He neither tasked the officers with arresting the accused in the 5 incidents of violence in Varapuzha nor did he ensure that the arrested persons were the real accused.

Sreejith was taken into custody from his house by the Rural Tiger Force team at around 10 pm on April 6, 2018. Sreejith was then brutally tortured in custody. Although he remained in custody for more than 24 hours in a severely injured condition, the DySP did not ensure any no treatment or safety for him. He did not go to the hospital where Sreejith was admitted or even call the doctors on the phone. He also refrained from informing Sreejith's serious condition to his superiors.

Prafulachandran deliberately stayed away from Varapuzha station till Sreejith died. The DGP had handed over the investigation report to the government stating that this laxity of the DySP led to a suicide, attempted murder and custodial death in the Devaswampadam area of ​​Varapuzha. After examining the report, the home department temporarily punished Prafulachandran with censure (warning).

Censure?
A censure (warning) is the mildest punishment in the police force. It will be just recorded in the service book. However, it won't affect the job and promotion of the officer.