The Kerala government has decided to investigate the controversial Hindu IAS WhatsApp group following a complaint by a fellow IAS who said his number was used to create the group. The government, pointing out that this violates the general code of conduct for IAS officers, said it would look into the matter and take appropriate action.

State Industries Minister P Rajeeve said the government will probe the controversial group following a complaint by another civil servant identified as K Gopalakrishnan, who said his personal WhatsApp number was hacked to form the group. Rajeeve described the incident as serious and said that communal divisions are extremely worrying.

“The government will look into the matter. There is a general code of conduct for IAS officers, which comes under the Public Administration department. We are currently examining the situation. Let’s review and determine what needs to be done,” he told reporters.

The complainant, K Gopalakrishnan, has lodged a complaint with the Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner seeking an inquiry into the matter. According to a source close to the officer, more officers were added to the group which was then labeled as a Hindu community group.

On noticing this, the officer immediately filed a complaint and broke up the group. In his complaint, he stated that he did not add any officer to the concerned group. The incident took place three days ago, sources said.

The groups that formed using Gopalakrishnan’s number have names like “Mallu Hindu officers” and “Mallu Muslim officers”, which has sparked a controversy. The officer said he only found out about it after a friend alerted him.

The officer said several groups were created from his contact information without his knowledge. Officers on his contact list were also added to groups without his knowledge.