The Kerala police have made a significant breakthrough in the case involving the creation of two WhatsApp groups along religious lines from the mobile number of an IAS officer on Diwali that created a furore. The police have found out that it was K Gopalakrishnan (IAS:2013:KL), director of the Department of Industries and Commerce, who created the WhatsApp groups.
The incident had taken the entire bureaucracy in Kerala by storm after the WhatsApp group named ‘Mallu Hindu officers’ was created adding several Hindu IAS officers belonging to the Kerala cadre. The action evoked sharp and immediate objections as many officers found it inappropriate and contrary to the secular credentials that bureaucrats are supposed to uphold.
Interestingly, Gopalkrishnan created another group for Mallu Muslim officers as well after the furore erupted. The WhatsApp groups were disbanded later as Gopalakrishnan claimed that his phone was hacked. Gopalkrishnan even attempted to forward the screenshots of the WhatsApp groups to the Centre. He later said that multiple groups were formed using his contacts without his consent. But WhatsApp has said to the police that the number was not hacked.
The police have taken the device in their custody and found it to have been factory reset with data deleted, and sent it to the forensic lab.
Also Read: WhatsApp group for Hindu IAS officers creates furore in Kerala
