Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday refuted media reports that he had slammed the police officers for leaking information to protestors, especially RSS-affiliated organisations, during the Sabarimala issue.

Addressing the Renaissance Protection Committee here on Thursday, Pinarayi flayed the media, terming the reports in this regard a blatant lie. Believing such media reports could land people in trouble. “The media keeps publishing news of all kinds. If you are going to believe all that is published, you would be in trouble, for, these need not always be factually correct. There is a deliberate attempt to spread false information. If you are going to pursue all such media reports, you are courting trouble,” said the chief minister.

“The other day, I had an interaction with police officers. Some reports apparently quoted the Chief Minister as saying that the police had acted as traitors on behalf of the RSS. That is a blatant lie. This is how the media manipulates news. How can anyone say that the police acted as traitors for the RSS?

“When I speak to them, I obviously discuss about their achievements. And in case there have been lapses or shortcomings of any sort on their part, these too are pointed out. Isn’t that part of my duty? I do that. Apart from that, there is no other dimension to this whole issue,” Pinarayi clarified.

Such malicious reports only create unnecessary misunderstanding, that creates an impression that the state police act as informers of the RSS, so it is better not to pursue such reports, he added.

CM defends PSC exam system

The Chief Minister also backed the Public Service Commission. Rejecting reports that questioned the authenticity of the PSC examination system, he said the commission has got a foolproof recruitment system. In the wake of the University College issue, there were reports that sought to portray the PSC in a bad light, he said.

“Later, people realised that many of these reports were not correct. Is it right to defame an institution on which numerous people depend?” The government has taken strict action in the University College issue. The accused have been arrested. The government has not taken the issue lightly, said Pinarayi.