Row over anti-piracy drive in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: A political row has erupted in Kerala's ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) over a delay in reinstating an anti-piracy officer whom the chief minister ordered the police chief to take back after his removal from office while conducting a raid.

Inspector General Rishiraj Singh yesterday continued to await the order from his department head, Director General of Police Ramon Srivastava, despite Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan's intervention.

Lending credence to media reports of a vertical rift in the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) heading the LDF, Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said he was yet to hear from Achuthanandan. Balakrishnan is believed to belong to the party's official camp controlled by state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.

Singh was removed from his post by a faxed message from Srivastava when the former was leading a raid on Ryan Studio belonging to the wife of Inspector General Tomin Thachankary, following the seizure of thousands of fake CDs of movies and songs.

On Friday morning, an infuriated Achuthanandan summoned the police chief to his residence, admonished him and asked him to put Singh back in his post.

That order has yet to be implemented, with Balakrishnan and Srivastava giving vague reasons.

There is also speculation that Srivastava has reported to the home minister that Singh did not have the powers to conduct raids. But the chief minister, who is presently away in Delhi, had rubbished that argument. Opposition Congress party and the Bharatiya Janata Party have condemned the controversy.

Congress state chief Ramesh Chennithala said the incident showed that the cabinet's collective responsibility has collapsed. "When such a thing happened he [chief minister] should first have spoken to his home minister."