'Mallu Hindu Officers' WhatsApp Group: Kerala Suspends Two IAS Officers For Indiscipline

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: Following reports of a WhatsApp Group called ‘Mallu Hindu Officers’ which was allegedly created by K Gopalakrishnan, director of Industries and Commerce department, the Kerala government has taken a disciplinary action by suspending the official. The government has also suspended Special Secretary, Agriculture, N. Prasanth, reportedly for criticising and levelling serious allegations against a senior officer on social media.

The action against Gopalakrishnan was taken for creating religion based WhatsApp group of government officials. The charges against the IAS officers included official misconduct, neglect of service and impropriety.

Read Also: WhatsApp Group ‘Mallu Hindu Officers’ Of IAS Officials Deleted Following Controversy

K Gopalakrishnan, whose contact number appeared to be the admin of the now-deleted WhatsApp group that fumed the controversy, had earlier claimed that his mobile was hacked. adding that it was not him who created the group. He had also submitted a cybercrime complaint against the culprits.

However, reports later suggested that the IAS officer’s phone was not hacked, with Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner Sparjan Kumar noting that it was ambiguous whether Gopalakrishnan’s device was compromised, as it had been ‘reset.’ The formation of the WhatsApp group, which added members based on religion, had created row in the state, with several politicians calling the matter a grave public concern.

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The action against Prasanth was taken for accusing A Jayathilak, the Additional Chief Secretary, of making baseless allegations and news report against him. Taking to his Facebook, the IAS officer alleged that Jayathilak has turned out to be a special reported who was working to tarnish him by spreading allegations through the media.

The issue between Jayathilak and Prasanth, who had earlier served as Kozhikode District Collector and in other top posts, popped up after media report which alleged that several crucial files from ‘Unnathi’–an initiative dedicated to the welfare of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs)–had mysteriously gone missing during his tenure as its Chief Executive Officer. Jayathilak had reportedly submitted a report on this matter to the chief minister.

Known as ‘collector bro,’ Prasanth faced the government action for publicly criticising a senior officer.