TN BJP takes battle against intel chief to Raj Bhavan, seeks NIA probe in passport case

In his letter dated July 12, 2022, to the Governor, the state BJP president K Annamalai has demanded immediate action against Devaasirvatham, charging the latter with blocking the investigation into the fake passport case involving some Sri Lankan nationals.

Annamalai’s letter claimed that a total of 53 passports had been obtained by allegedly using fake documents from the Madurai Avaniyapuram police station area near Madurai city. It cited two instances, from June 2019 and January 2020, in which some Lankan nationals were arrested at Indian airports for allegedly using passports obtained with fake documents. In this matter, the police lodged an FIR suo motu against four persons under Sections 120(b), 420,465, 468, and 471 of the IPC as well as Sections 12(IA) (a), 12 (IA) (b), and 12(2) of the Passport Act of 1967.

According to the state BJP chief’s letter, the investigation into this matter being conducted by the state CID’s Q-branch had implicated not just police officers but also passport authorities and the postal service. Later, the Madras High Court heard a petition seeking that the matter be transferred to the CBI, with the state government submitting that 175 witnesses had been questioned, 22 identified as accused, and 16 arrested, including three police officers and a district passport office functionary. In January 2021, the court directed the Q-branch to conclude the probe in three months’ time.

Annamalai’s letter claimed that the subsequent probe conducted by IGP, Intelligence-Internal Security, Eswaramurthy, hit a roadblock as the latter purportedly named Devaasirvatham as one of the officers to be examined in the matter. He also charged that the police’s letter seeking sanction to investigate Devaasirvatham has still been pending before the state home department, adding that “it is evident that the probe lacks transparency due to the involvement of those implicated in this case”.

Apprehending that “important evidence” would have been destroyed due to excessive delay in the probe, Annamalai, in his letter to the Governor, demanded immediate suspension of implicated officials and an NIA or CBI probe into the case, charging that the matter was currently being “investigated haphazardly” and has “defied” the timelines set by the court.

Sources in the police and the state home department refuted Annamalai’s allegation that Devaasirvatham had a “direct hand” in the issuance of several fake passports.

“Devaasirvatham is targeted for having served as the commissioner of Madurai at the time. However, when a passport needs to be verified, the information is sent to the local intelligence desk, which then forwards it to the local police station, where the verification process is done by a junior officer. Meeting the individual for personal verification, examining his certificates in person, and double-checking any criminal records, are all part of the verification procedure. A city police commissioner is not involved in this verification process at all, commissioners under him are also not involved although there will be periodic reports to higher-ups about the total number of verifications,” said a senior police officer in the know.

“India has been a transit point for Sri Lankan Tamils travelling abroad. Many refugees who have resided here for many years may still attempt to obtain a fake passport using local ration cards, identification cards, or other basic certificates. These are flaws in our system and unless objections or complaints are raised, it is unlikely that a police officer performing manual verification can catch them. In this case, a decision was to be made about whether we proceed with criminal action or departmental action against the accused officers. Dragging a commissioner into it is foolish as there are dozens of fake passport cases being probed in the state, in every district and towns,” said a state home ministry official.

The BJP has targeted Devaasirvatham earlier too. In February this year, Annamalai alleged that the state intelligence wing had been listening in on his phone calls, charging that the state intelligence team was mounting “personal attacks” against him and that he has “screenshots of WhatsApp chats” to prove it. He also claimed that the the intelligence department was controlling the entire police force and that the ADGP, Intelligence, Devaasirvatham, was acting as the state police chief.

A Hindutva outfit recently made communal slurs against Devaasirvatham, calling him a “religious fanatic” in a video that went viral in Hindutva groups.

Addressing a gathering at Tiruchendur on June 23, which was organised to denounce the DMK government’s alleged actions against Hindu temples, Kadeswara Subramanian, the state president of the Hindu Munnani, charged that it was Devaasirvatham, and not Chief Minister M K Stalin, who was allegedly targeting Hindus in the state.

In his speech, Subramanian said: “Don’t believe that Stalin is directing these actions (against temples). Do you know who is behind all of this? There is a man from the Nadar community sitting in the intelligence department. What is his name? David? Davidson! Yes… Allow me to take this opportunity to inform Stalin and the police force – a religious fanatic is currently in charge of your intelligence wing. Nobody like him has ever been an intelligence official that we have seen. Unlike other intelligence officers, he will go to church on Sundays rather than coming to work.”