1st woman IPS officer of Kerala made accused in BJP protest case

PTI, April 25, 2026, Thiruvananthapuram :  Kerala’s former DGP R Sreelekha has been made an accused in the case related to a BJP protest alleging assault on party workers at Vattiyoorkavu here, police said.

Sreelekha, a BJP councillor in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, had contested from the Vattiyoorkavu constituency in the April 9 Assembly polls.

She had inaugurated the BJP Mahila Morcha protest led by BJP councillors held outside the Vattiyoorkavu police station, alleging police assault on BJP workers at Nettayam.

During the protest, Sreelekha was seen chanting the slogan “poda pulle police”, which is widely perceived as derogatory.

Though police had initially registered a case against five BJP leaders and 50 unidentified persons, there was sharp criticism over not naming Sreelekha as an accused despite videos showing her inaugurating the protest and chanting slogans.

Police officials said a fresh report was filed before the concerned magistrate’s court, which arraigned 15 persons, including Sreelekha, as accused in the case.

Deputy Mayor Asha Nath has also been included in the revised accused list submitted before the court.

Sreelekha drew criticism from leaders of various police associations for raising slogans against the department in which she had served.

V K Prasanth had also criticised the Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner for allegedly giving special consideration to Sreelekha by not initially including her in the case.

However, Sreelekha has maintained that she had always taken a strong stand against wrongdoing within the police department during her service.