By Crime Bureau
New Delhi Chronicle
KOTTAYAM / NEW DELHI — In a major setback for the former top cop, a Special Vigilance Court in Kottayam on Thursday sentenced retired Kerala Director General of Police (DGP) Tomin J. Thachankary to four years of rigorous imprisonment in a long-pending disproportionate assets case.
The court also imposed a fine of ₹30.84 lakh on the 1987-batch IPS officer.
Long-Pending Corruption Investigation
The corruption case dates back to 2007 when the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) registered a case against Thachankary following his promotion to Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police.
By the time the VACB filed the formal chargesheet in 2013, Thachankary had risen through the ranks to become an Additional Director General of Police (ADGP).
According to the prosecution, Thachankary accumulated wealth amounting to ₹64.7 lakh between January 2003 and July 2007. Investigations by the VACB revealed that the assets acquired during this four-year window were between 135% and 138% disproportionate to his known and lawful sources of official income.
Legal Hurdles and High Court Intervention
Throughout the legal proceedings, Thachankary contended that the wealth under scrutiny stemmed from ancestral property partition, family inheritance, and legitimate gifts. He filed a plea seeking discharge from the case, but the Vigilance Court rejected it in May 2020, ruling that there was sufficient prima facie evidence to proceed to trial.
In January 2021, following a representation submitted by Thachankary, the Kerala government sanctioned a fresh probe by a separate special unit of the VACB. However, anti-corruption activist Bobby Kuruvila challenged the government’s decision in the Kerala High Court, alleging that the re-investigation order was an attempt to delay the trial process.
In August 2025, a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court set aside the state government’s order for further investigation and directed the trial court to conclude proceedings in a time-bound manner, paving the way for Thursday’s conviction.
A High-Profile Profile in Public Service
Tomin J. Thachankary retired in 2023 as DGP (Investigation) at the Kerala State Human Rights Commission.
Over a career spanning more than three decades, Thachankary held several pivotal and high-visibility administrative postings in Kerala, including:
Managing Director, Kerala Marketfed and Consumerfed
Chairman and Managing Director, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC)
Chairman and Managing Director, Kerala Books and Publications Society (KBPS)
Chief of Kerala Fire and Rescue Services
The verdict marks one of the most high-profile convictions of a senior bureaucrat under anti-corruption legislation in the state’s recent political history.
