E-Paper
Health dept inquiry against man who alleged bribery charges at ADM Naveen Babu
The petrol pump owner, TV Prasanth, is employed as an electrician at the Government Medical College Hospital in Pariyaram, Kannur
Kerala health minister Veena George announced an inquiry into the person who levelled bribery allegations against additional district magistrate (ADM) Naveen Babu, who later died by suicide, whether he violated service rules by owning a fuel station.
The petrol pump owner, TV Prasanth, is employed as an electrician at the Government Medical College Hospital in Pariyaram, Kannur. Earlier, he told the media that he had paid a bribe of ₹98,000 to ADM Babu for granting a no-objection certificate for his fuel station.
The minister added that the services of Prasanth were no longer needed as there was prima facie evidence of wrongdoing. Prasanth is a contractual employee and it will be looked into if the service rules are binding on him, she said.
“My decision is that he (Prasanth) is no longer required in service. He was working in the electrical section at the hospital and reports said that he submitted an application to the government for permission with regard to ownership and managing the fuel station. The response we got from the hospital administration is not satisfactory. So, I have decided to send the additional chief secretary there to conduct an inquiry and get legal aid (on his purported violation of service rules),” the health minister told reporters.
The minister said she knew the deceased revenue officer very well from his student days, and that he would never speak lies or engage in any kind of malpractice.
“I worked with him very closely during the 2018 floods in Pathanamthitta, and later from 2020 onwards during the Covid pandemic in Kannur. I know his family very well. He was an upright and honest officer,” she said.
CPM leader and former Kannur district panchayat president PP Divya cited Prasanth’s case during a farewell ceremony hosted in Babu’s honour and alluded to his involvement in the alleged bribery publicly. The allegations are now seen to have provoked the ADM to die by suicide the next day. While Divya was asked to resign from her post by the CPI(M), the family of Babu and those who worked with him closely maintained that he had never indulged in corruption all his life.
Kannur collector questioned
Kannur district collector Arun K Vijayan recorded his statement before police on Monday as part of the probe into the alleged suicide of ADM Babu.
The collector faces allegations of inviting PP Divya to the farewell meeting last week and facilitating the platform for her to make the corruption allegations against Babu.
He told reporters that he would give a truthful statement to police in the case and refused to answer other questions. Earlier, he had denied that he had invited Divya to the meeting and that the same was hosted by the staff council, not his office.
