Thiruvananthapuram: With pictures of scores of parents assisting their children to copy in an examination in Bihar state still fresh in everyone’s mind, an allegation has surfaced that is ironic and bizarre in equal measure: a senior police officer in Kerala has been caught carrying bits of papers for copying in a law examination.
In a further ironic twist, the examination was being held at a college that is affiliated to a university named after Mahatma Gandhi, revered as the father of the nation.
The man in question, the Thrissur range inspector-general of police, T.J. Jose, of the Indian Police Service, has denied the allegation. He was appearing for the LLM (Masters examination in law) at the St Paul’s College in Kalamassery in the outskirts of Kochi, when he was reportedly caught with pages torn from a book. An invigilator in the examination hall, who was unaware that Jose was an inspector-general of police, reported the matter to the college principal. Early reports indicate that the college authorities will recommend that Jose be debarred from the examination.
Jose has denied the allegation and said he had indeed written the examination and walked out of the hall a little earlier than the permitted time.
As the news went viral, the police administration announced that an inquiry would be conducted into the matter by an additional director general of police.
Student organisations also joined issue with the development, with the Kerala Students’ Union and the Students’ Federation of India activists demanding action against the police officer.
Jose had previously been the city police commissioner for Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. He was also in the eye of a controversy when the intelligence wing reported that he was behind the leaking of news to media regarding the telephone call lists in the controversial solar power scam.
