Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 30 (IANS) The Kerala Home Department on Sunday placed Vadakara Deputy SP Umesh under suspension after grave allegations of sexual exploitation surfaced against him in a 32-page suicide note left behind by Inspector Binu Thomas (52), the Station House Officer of Cherpulassery Police Station in Palakkad.

The government acted a day after State Police Chief Ravada A. Chandrasekhar submitted a special report to the Home Department outlining Umesh’s “immoral, illegal and undisciplined activities”, prompting the immediate suspension order.

According to the report, the allegations date back to April 24, 2014, when Binu, then Sub-Inspector and SHO of Wadakkanchery Police Station, conducted a raid that led to the detention of a woman and four men on charges of immoral trafficking.

Umesh, who was the Circle Inspector at the time, allegedly accepted bribes from the detainees and ensured that no case was registered.

Later that night, the report said, Umesh and Binu went to the woman’s residence, where she was allegedly threatened and sexually exploited.

Binu’s suicide note, however, places primary responsibility on Umesh, stating that the DySP sexually assaulted the woman that night and again two days later.

Binu acknowledged that he later entered into a relationship with the woman after prolonged phone conversations, while also admitting in the note that any such relationship was inherently exploitative due to the power imbalance.

Palakkad District Police Chief Ajit Kumar, who recorded the woman’s fresh statement, said that a “strong report” had been forwarded to police headquarters.

Sources said the woman, now residing in a southern district, corroborated the incidents described in the suicide note and indicated that Umesh’s alleged misconduct extended beyond what Binu had written.

When Binu was initially found dead in police quarters, his death was attributed to personal issues. Though police recovered his suicide note and phones during the inquest, their contents were not disclosed for nearly two weeks.

The investigation gained urgency only after three pages of the note were leaked to the media.

According to sources, Umesh had opposed Binu’s growing emotional closeness with the woman and had even informed Binu’s wife, a schoolteacher, intensifying the officer’s distress.

Binu took the extreme step on November 15.

Following the leak, a preliminary disciplinary inquiry was initiated against Umesh. Ajit Kumar said the suspended DySP will now face an oral inquiry, after which further action will be decided.

He declined to comment on whether the suicide note implicates Umesh in abetment of suicide, citing the ongoing District Crime Branch probe.

No criminal case has yet been registered against Umesh, either for sexual assault or abetment to suicide.

Senior officers, however, indicated that the government is likely to grant sanctions soon to initiate criminal proceedings against the suspended DySP.

–IANS

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