Keralam State Police Chief Ravada A. Chandrasekhar says the police hope to uncover all aspects of the Kovalam spa case and that provisions of the anti-human trafficking law have been invoked.
Keralam State Police Chief Ravada A. Chandrasekhar on Wednesday (October 21, 2026) said all district police chiefs had been directed to conduct intelligence-based operations against spas suspected of illegal activities.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a blood donation camp organised in Thiruvananthapuram on the occasion of Police Commemoration Day, Mr. Chandrasekhar said an investigation was under way into the alleged sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl from Andhra Pradesh at a spa in Kovalam.
He said the police were treating the matter very seriously and had ordered stringent action against spas involved in illegal activities to prevent similar incidents. The police chief said intelligence-based operations would be conducted at the district level to identify spas engaged in illegal activities. “It will not be a one-time operation,” he added.
Arrested
On the Kovalam spa case, Mr. Chandrasekhar said the police hoped to uncover all aspects of the case and that provisions of the anti-human trafficking law had been invoked. A health inspector with the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the case, which is being investigated by a nine-member Special Investigation Team (SIT).
The girl’s maternal aunt and her husband were subsequently taken into custody by the police in Andhra Pradesh. The girl lost her parents when she was two years old and had been in the care of her maternal aunt since then.
Mr. Chandrasekhar also spoke about ‘Samraksha,’ a State-level voluntary blood donation initiative launched on Police Commemoration Day to honour police personnel who died in the line of duty. He said the initiative, jointly organised by the police and the Kerala State Blood Transfusion Council (KSBTC), would be implemented across all police subdivisions, battalions and other police units in the State. “I think we will be able to donate more than 1,000 units of blood for the sake of society,” he said.
Mr. Chandrasekhar said a parade was held to honour police personnel who had died in the line of duty across the country.
Police Commemoration Day is observed across India on October 21 to honour police personnel who died in the line of duty. The day commemorates the 1959 ambush by Chinese troops in the Hot Springs area of Ladakh, in which 10 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed.
Published – October 21, 2026 11:34 pm IST
