Kerala govt to probe controversial Hindu IAS WhatsApp group

The Kerala government has decided to probe the controversial Hindu IAS WhatsApp group, following the complaint of a fellow IAS officer who said his number was used to create the group. The government, highlighting that this violates the general code of conduct for IAS officers, said it would look into the matter and take appropriate action. 

State Industries Minister P Rajeeve said the government will probe the controversial group following the complaint of another civil servant identified as K Gopalakrishnan, who said that his personal WhatsApp number was hacked to form the group. Rajeeve described the incident as serious and said community-based divisions are highly concerning. 

"The government will look into this matter. There is a general code of conduct for IAS officers, which falls under the Public Administration department. We are currently examining the situation. Let’s review and determine what needs to be done," he told reporters.

The complainant, K Gopalakrishnan, had submitted a complaint to the Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner, requesting an inquiry into the matter. According to a source close to the officer, multiple officers were added in the group that was then labelled as a Hindu community group. 

Upon noticing this, the officer immediately filed a complaint and dismantled the group. In his complaint, he stated that he had not added any officers to the group in question. The incident occurred three days ago, sources said.

The groups that were formed using Gopalakrishnan’s number have names such as ‘Mallu Hindu officers’ and ‘Mallu Muslim officers’, which has sparked a controversy. The officer said he came to know about this only after a friend alerted him. 

The officer said that multiple groups were created from his contact information without his knowledge. Officers from his contact list were also added to the groups without his knowledge.