Can Kerala Police make their cases stick against drug traffickers or actor Dileep in sexual misconduct case

By now, it’s a fact of life that Kerala Police will mess up – even when it holds all the cards (to borrow a phrase from Trump-speak).

You find this hard to believe? All that you will need to do is go through some of the observations passed down by a court in Ernakulam in the way Kerala Police handled – or better still, mishandled – the drug bust case against Malayalam film actor Shine Tom Chacko. Even the bare minimum steps in the investigation were mishandled – including a failure to prove that the drug seizures actually were from the accused. (If no action is taken against police officers who allowed this to happen, where does it leave the Kerala Police?)

This wasn’t just a one-off case where the Kerala Police was found wanting. There was another media report where the police wasted valuable time in filing a case against arrested drug traffickers, which led them to get bail and then do the proper skip out of town. Pathetic doesn’t even half describe how the state cops managed to get this wrong.

It’s all very well for Kerala Police to go in for drug raids, with a lot of noise and camera flashes, the parading of alleged offenders with the drugs captured  and then end up doing nothing much about it. If investigations fall apart because of the most basic of oversights, then the Kerala Police might be better off not starting anything.

Is it the case that a sizable number of Kerala Police’s workforce are nothing but time-servers? Who march impressively on parade grounds on Independence and Republic days, but don’t have the wits to make their cases stick. When they have enough evidence that wrong doing was done. Is the Kerala Police now better at riding escort than nabbing offenders?

All of which brings attention back to the many cases that the cops from the south Indian state have embarked upon. There is the infamous one against the actor Dileep for taking out a ‘contract’ to get an actress nabbed and sexually assaulted. It was all the way back on July 10, 2017 that the police arrested Dileep – and it’s always been in doubt whether the authorities do have any or enough evidence to make the case stick. On this one, a verdict could be delivered some time in June. If the actor is cleared off all the accusations, that’s another body blow to Kerala Police’s self-esteem. (In the court of public opinion, there is already a lot that Kerala Police needs to salvage…)  

But it will be in the offensive against the all prevailing drug menace that Kerala Police has to assert itself. A few arrests here and there cannot – and will not – make any difference in taking the fight to the actual traffickers. And if the authorities need to make a statement of intent, nabbing and letting them get off scot-free smacks of sheer incompetence. Kerala society can’t afford to lose the battles against drugs – and certainly not because Kerala Police decided not to get smart…