The Left government in Kerala has suspended IAS officer K Gopalakrishnan for violation of discipline, PTI reported quoting sources. IAS Gopalakrishnan allegedly created a religion-based WhatsApp group of government officials. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ordered the suspension of the official based on the report he received from senior officials. The state government also suspended IAS Prasanth, Special Secretary of Agriculture, for criticising a senior IAS officer, Additional Chief Secretary Dr A Jayathilak, on social media.
Recently, IAS Gopalakrishnan filed a complaint with the police, claiming that multiple WhatsApp groups with religious names were created with him as the group admin after his phone was hacked. The two WhatsApp groups were named 'Mallu Hindu Officers' and 'Mallu Muslim Officers'.
IAS Gopalakrishnan is a 2013 batch officer of Kerala cadre. He served as the director of industries and commerce in Kerala until his suspension. Before this, he was Director of the Scheduled Caste Development Department. Previously, he has also served as Thiruvananthapuram district collector.
IAS Gopalakrishnan belongs to Nammakkal in Tamil Nadu. He is a B.Tech mechanical engineering graduate and has done post-graduation in financial management, as per a 2019 TOI report. His wife Deepa is a homemaker and the duo has two children.
Gopalakrishnan has served as assistant collector in Malappuram, sub-collector Kozhikode, CEO Jalanidhi and land revenue records director. He has also served as assistant secretary in the communications and information technology department of the Union government.
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The controversy began on October 31, when several IAS officers in the Kerala cadre were unexpectedly added to a new WhatsApp group. The group included only Hindu officers, prompting immediate objections. Many officers viewed the group as a breach of secular values. that government officials are expected to uphold. The group, however, was deleted the following day.
