Cops were not alerted about Karnan's Kochi hideout

Thiruvananthapuram: The state police are justifying their  ignorance over Justice C.S. Karnan's reported hideout at a resort in Kochi stating that they were not given any alert about him  by the police team bound to execute the warrant against him.

State police chief T.P. Senkumar said that the state police did not have any  information or alert from the centre or other state police units regarding Justice Karnan's stay in Kerala. He also said that there was no lapse on the part the state police in this regard.

ADGP Intelligence  Mohammed Yasin also said that the state police had no information about his stay in Kochi or any other part of Kerala.

“Usually when a person wanted by a state police is in a hideout in any other state, the police force executing the warrant would seek the assistance of the local police. No other state police seemed to have sought Kerala police's help in arresting Justice Karnan," he said.

Legal experts claim that the police can act against the resort owner for refusing to inform the local police about the stay of Justice Karnan. Harbouring an accused is an offence. Though the resort authorities had claimed that they were not aware of his presence, the  police have not decided whether to take action against the resort owner.

Justice Karnan, the first High Court judge to be awarded a jail term by the Supreme Court, had retired from service on June 12 as a fugitive. Police sources  also said that since Justice Karnan was not wanted in any major criminal case or was not involved in any criminal acts in the state, the state police or state intelligence wing could not be blamed for being ignorant of his stay in Kerala. The police force that was to execute the warrant against him  should have tracked his hideouts and alerted the local police, they said.