Kerala’s Home Department has put on hold a decision to reinstate a suspended police officer, Assistant Commissioner of Police A. Umesh, after senior Congress leaders in Kozhikode objected strongly to his return to service. Umesh had been suspended earlier this year following a string of serious allegations, the most serious of which is that he sexually assaulted a woman who had been detained in police custody in Palakkad and then promised to have the case against her dropped. He also faces accusations of accepting bribes from four young men and of colluding with the CPM during a cooperative bank election in Chevayur in November 2024 to help facilitate irregular voting, a charge Congress says amounts to political interference on behalf of a rival party.
The allegations against him gained renewed attention after they surfaced in the suicide note of Cherpulassery station house officer Binu Thomas, whose death earlier this year has kept the case under scrutiny, and after the woman he is accused of assaulting corroborated the claims. When word emerged that the department was preparing to reinstate Umesh, Kozhikode District Congress Committee president and MLA K. Praveen Kumar led a delegation to meet Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Sunday to register the party’s opposition. Chennithala agreed to keep the reinstatement order on hold for now rather than proceed immediately, according to officials familiar with the meeting.
The episode has become an added embarrassment for the ruling UDF government, which has faced a series of controversies this year over police conduct and custodial abuse allegations in Kerala. It also highlights continuing friction between coalition partners over how the state handles disciplinary action against police officers accused of serious misconduct. No fresh date has been set for a final decision on Umesh’s reinstatement, and the department has not said how long the hold will remain in place. The case adds to a broader pattern of scrutiny facing Kerala’s police force over custodial safety and accountability in recent months.