The Kerala government suspended Director of Industries K Gopalakrishnan and Special Secretary of Agriculture N Prasanth on Monday for disciplinary violations.
Gopalakrishnan allegedly formed a WhatsApp group including IAS officers based on religious affiliations, while Prasanth faced action after he made personal remarks on social media against Additional Chief Secretary Dr A Jayathilak.
Earlier, Gopalakrishnan had filed a complaint about hacking the device after a row erupted over the formation of a WhatsApp group named ‘Mallu Hindu officers' was created on October 31 using his mobile phone number.
Some of the IAS officers who were added to the group objected to the nature of the group. In his report, the commissioner said the cyber forensics team could not determine whether the device was hacked or not as it was formatted.
Prasanth had previously levelled allegations against Jayathilak, accusing him of ruining the careers and lives of subordinates who failed to follow his directives. He also described his superior officer as mentally ill and called him a ‘psychopath.'
Prasanth's insult came while a report was filed by Jayathilak against him regarding the Unnathi initiative, which was under the consideration of the Chief Minister.
News reports recently emerged that the files related to Unnathi (Kerala Empowerment Society), an organisation formed for the welfare and implementation of various schemes for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, are missing. Jayathilak has submitted a report to the Chief Minister stating that Unnathi's functioning has come to a standstill.
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