Kerala IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman, who had spearheaded an eviction drive in Munnar in 2017, has landed in trouble as the car he was driving rammed into a bike, killing the rider journalist. K.M. Basheer, the Thiruvananthapuram bureau chief of Malayalam daily Siraaj, was killed in the wee hours of Saturday after his bike was hit by the speeding car driven by the Survey Director, the police said.
Though police rushed Basheer to the Medical College hospital, he could not be saved. He is survived by wife Jaseela and two children. Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) has demanded a proper and truthful investigation in the case to bring the guilty to book. Expressing deep shock and grief, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the media fraternity had lost a member who had a bright future.
Venkitaraman has been admitted to a private hospital with a fractured arm.
The police added that Venkitaraman was drunk during the time of the accident. Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran said IAS officers should set an example for others by following rules and regulations strictly. Steps would be taken to cancel the driving license of the accused, he told reporters.
It was after much delay that a reluctant police confirmed that the car was indeed driven by the IAS officer. The police have also invited criticism for the manner in which they initially handled the case.
The case took a dramatic turn after contradicting statements from eyewitnesses and the passengers in the car—Venkitaraman and his female friend Wafa Firoz. In their initial versions, both Venkitaraman and Firoz had claimed that the latter was driving the car at the time of the accident. The Volkswagen car is registered in the name of Firoz.
However, eyewitnesses had claimed otherwise. They said the car was speeding when the accident occurred near Museum police station and that a male was at the wheel. Venkitaraman was over-speeding and was under the influence of alcohol, they added. However, this could not be confirmed initially as there was a delay in collecting the IAS officer's blood samples.
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Soon, Firoz changed her version in a fresh statement and said Venkitaraman was driving the speeding car. Police have accessed the CCTV visuals and are examining the veracity of the statements.
It was recently that Sriram Venkitaraman, who was back after study leave in the US, was appointed the Survey and Land Records Director.
The IAS officer had courted controversy in 2017 during his term as the Devikulam sub-collector. He had irked the local politicians and Chief Minsiter Pinarayi Vijayan for fearlessly spearheading the eviction drive in Munnar, a famous tourist spot.