Suspension of the most prestigious Kerala police officer extended by three more months

Thiruvananthapuram 9 August : Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday approved the extension of suspension of Inspector General of Police G.Lekshmana for another three months.

Lekshmana was suspended in November last year over his alleged links with Mavunkal who was at the time the head of the Traffic Department and was all set to be promoted to the position of Additional Director General of Police.Since Mavunkal was arrested by the Crime Branch from his home-cum-museum in Kochi in September of last year, when victims approached Vijayan with their concerns about being swindled of more than 10 crore rupees by the "master fraud" The identity of Lekshmana and the alleged links to him surfaced.

When the first news of the case surfaced in September, photos of former state police chief Loknath Behra and serving Additional Director General of Police Manoj Abraham visiting the "museum" of Mavunkal at Kochi went viral.The court asked questions like"how did these top police officials have never thought of the way a museum like could function? The rules are clearly laid out and the court also outlined how the police created a daily beatbox at Mavunkals home as well as the museum.The investigation was soon in high gear and the statements of Behra, Abraham and Lekshmana were gathered and it was on the basis of the statements made by these individuals that Vijayan suspended him.Mavunkal invited all of his guests who were famous to his table by displaying antiques that he claimed contained the "staff of Moses" and "two of the 30 silver coins taken by Judas to deceive Jesus Christ".Police reported that he was also seen with a throne believed to have been made by Tipu Sultan and also an extensive collection of old Qurans and Bibles (Old Testament and New Testament), and old handwritten copies of the Bhagavad Gita.

Mavunkal was known to invite a number of high-profile guests to his luxurious residence, a portion of which was transformed into a museum that housed his "precious" antiques.Mavunkal after his arrest remains in his judicial custody.sg/dp.