Kerala’s ‘Collector Bro’ ups the ante, demands filing of cases against senior IAS officers, Malayalam daily

On Wednesday, he had a hearing with the state’s Chief Secretary, Sarada Muraleedharan. Prasanth had asked for the hearing to be livestreamed – a request that was denied by the Chief Secretary.

After the hearing, Prashanth took to Facebook and said he demanded that a case be registered against Jayathilak, Gopalakrishnan (the IAS officer who faced action for the creation of a WhatsApp group called ‘Mallu Hindu Officers’) and Mathrubhumi newspaper (which Prashanth accuses of being part of a conspiracy).

He also demanded that the probe against him, which he called a farce, be scrapped, and that his promotion, which has been withheld since 2022, be approved.

“Until these issues are solved, I am not in a hurry to get my suspension revoked. I am not Gopalakrishnan (he was suspended in November, but was reinstated in January) to get suffocated outside the government system,” Prashanth said.

In a previous letter to the Chief Secretary, Prashanth had raised the allegations that “IAS officers Jayathilak and K Gopalakrishnan engaged in a deliberate effort to manipulate official records, fabricate evidence, and circulate false information to the government and media. Despite my complaint, the disciplinary authority has taken no action against the perpetrators and has instead sought to protect them by launching retaliatory disciplinary action against me.”

Prasanth has also alleged that “files pertaining to press club corruption cases in Kerala are with Jayathilak, who is Additional Chief Secretary”. He has alleged that “several prominent journalists” are involved in the corruption.

In Kerala, the state government has allotted funds to several press clubs in district headquarters. These press clubs are controlled by the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ). KUWJ has not so far reacted to the allegations.