Woman IPS officer in Kerala accuses colleague of harassing her for nearly three decades

Thiruvananthapuram: Two senior IPS officers in Kerala were on Monday at the centre of a bitter row with a woman officer accusing her male colleague of harassing her for nearly three decades and also being behind a vigilance probe against her. Additional Director General of Police R Sreelekha in a Facebook post lashed out against Transport Commissioner Tomin J Thachankary, also an IPS officer, alleging that he had been harassing her for the last 29 years, ever since the civil service training period, a charge rubbished by the latter. [caption id=“attachment_2606972” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  IPS officer R Sreelekha in a file photo. Image courtesy: sreelekhaips.blogspot.in[/caption] Sreelekha, a decorated officer and the first IPS woman officer from Kerala, alleged that Thachankary has been “haunting” her “since the IPS training period in 1987”, and that he was instrumental in the slapping of a recent Vigilance probe against her in connection with a vehicle tax evasion case. When contacted, 55-year-old Sreelekha, a 1987-batch IPS officer, said she had aired her views in her personal page in Facebook and she stands by it. “I have not stated anything against the government, court or police department. I stand by whatever has been stated by me in the post,” she said. Now heading the State Crime Records Bureau, Sreelekha referred to a Vigilance court’s recent order directing a probe against her in a case pertaining to alleged loss caused to the government in the matter of sanctioning school bus permit to private buses during her tenure as a transport commissioner. She also alleged that the officer had conspired with the complainant to file the petition allegedly to deny her promotions and positions. “Thachankary conspired with the complainant to implicate me,” Sreelekha wrote. The officer said she has “become ill” following this “mental harassment from Thachankery”. Sreelekha said she had brought the matter to the notice of DGP and has sought an inquiry into the alleged conspiracy by Thachankary against her. On his part, Thachankary, also a 1987-batch IPS officer, refuted the allegations and said he would take up the matter with higher ups. “Everyone in the department knows who has been haunting whom over the years. I will bring her Facebook post to the notice of higher-ups,” he said. Thachankary said he has also sought the sanction of Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson to launch prosecution proceedings against Sreelekha. “I requested the Chief Secretary to give prosecution sanction to launch proceedings against Sreelekha,” he said. Thachankary said he had written to DGP TP Sen Kumar to order an inquiry and take action against the guilty. The IG-ranked officer said he had informed the DGP that Sreelekha had allegedly violated a circular and her actions were against conduct rules. PTI