The Kerala government has punished and transferred its young IPS officer Chaithra Teresa John for having raided the communist party district office in Thiruvananthapuram in search of criminals.

She was given the additional charge of Deputy Commissioner of Police in the state capital when the Sabarimala pilgrimage season was at its peak last month. 

She is said to have antagonized Communist party leaders while pursuing a case in which the youth activists of the party were involved in attacking a police station after the police arrested two DYFI workers who got involved in a case registered under the POCSO Act.  After receiving information that the culprits are hiding inside the CPI-M district office here, she went there but could not find anyone there. 

Earlier, Teresa took a strong stand against eight state government employees belonging to a Left union who are now in jail for vandalizing a State Bank of India branch here on January 9 as part of a nationwide strike.