Doval worked in Thalassery, Kerala, for a brief period from 2 January 1972 to 9 June 1972. Doval, who was then the ASP in Kottayam, was assigned the duty by the then Home Minister, K. Karunakaran. Though the Thalassery riot, lasted for only a couple of days after it began on 28 Dec 1971, Karunakaran wanted to avert it escalating further, following which Doval was assigned the duty. Immediately after reaching Thalassery, his priority was to retrieve the properties looted by the rioters, and was the SI in Kannur Town Police station at that time.