Former Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), law and order, M.R. Ajith Kumar, who is at the centre of a sprawling anti-corruption enquiry, has testified that the “bogus charges” against him sprang from political vendetta, discord within the State law enforcement and the ire of anti-national elements disgruntled over the crack down on contraband gold smuggling and hawala rackets in North Kerala.
Mr. Ajith Kumar’s contentious declaration emerged in the public domain on Friday after a special court here rebuffed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) preliminary enquiry report exonerating the high-ranking officer from any wrongdoing, including accusations of illegal amassment of wealth, unlawful felling of valuable timber from government property and profiting from contraband gold and hawala interdictions.
As per the VACB’s filings in the court of the Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, Thiruvananthapuram, A. Manoj, Mr. Ajith Kumar told investigators that the “bogus case” stemmed from sensational charges of corruption and criminal profiteering levelled against him relentlessly by former Left Democratic Front (LDF) independent legislator from Nilambur in Malappuram, P.V. Anvar.
Mr. Ajith Kumar stated that the police refused to bow down to pressure exerted by Mr. Anvar to book a YouTube news channel owner critical of the politician on non-bailable charges of cyber terrorism, earning the politician’s deep spite. He said a police enquiry found that Mr. Anvar’s accusations against the newsperson did not attract the provisions of IT Act 66 (f).
Moreover, Mr. Ajith Kumar stated that the police’s harsh crackdown on gold smuggling and hawala rackets in Malappuram, including invoking provisions of treason against the suspects, ignited the hostility of anti-national forces profiting from financial crimes, which undermine the national economy.
Mr Ajith Kumar alleged that Mr Anvar singled out the Chief Minister’s Office for calumnious attacks, after it refused to heed the LDF legislators’ “unlawful demands”, including ultimata to rein in plainclothes squads tasked to interdict contraband gold and hawala racketeers in North Kerala.
(Mr Anvar’s acrimonious split with the government later led to his resignation as MLA.)
Documents submitted
Mr. Ajith stated that specific vested interests, including those in the police, struck a transactional alliance to oust him from the top law and order post. The cabal also conspired to ruin his career, deny him any future pivotal post in law enforcement and render the ranking officer a political liability and source of embarrassment to the LDF government.
Mr. Ajith Kumar also submitted a slew of bank documents, annual income statements and revenue records concerning land transactions to prove that he was innocent of the charges.
Published – August 15, 2025 08:30 pm IST
