E-Paper
Kerala IAS officer files discharge plea in drunk driving case
The IAS officer contended that there was no evidence to prove that he was drunk at the time of the accident on August 3, 2019 that claimed the life of KM Basheer
Prime accused in an alleged drunk driving case that resulted in the death of a young journalist three years ago in the state capital, IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman on Monday approached a district sessions court with a discharge petition.
He contended, in his plea, that there was no evidence to prove that he was drunk at the time of the accident on August 3, 2019 that claimed the life of KM Basheer. He is the first accused in the case and his woman fellow traveller Wafa Firoze is second accused in the case.
Soon after the accident, he was taken to the general hospital to check his blood by police, but he reportedly refused to give his blood and got himself admitted in a private hospital after the pressure from the powerful bureaucracy. His blood samples were taken nine hours after the accident and police formally recorded his arrest after 18 hours.
There was a big controversy over the way the investigation was carried out and Basheer’s family and journalists’ bodies had condemned the botched-up investigation.
Later, the government was forced to suspend him from service, but taken back after a year. He is currently the general manager of the state civil supplies corporation. Two months back, there was a move to appoint him as the collector of Alapuzha, but the government withdrew the order after many Muslim outfits hit the street.
The IAS officer and his co-passenger in the car were booked under sections 340 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 202 (destroying evidence) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 184 and 185 (dangerous driving) of the Motor Vehicles Act.
Basheer, reporter of a local daily, was killed on the spot after the car allegedly driven by Venkitaraman hit his motorcycle. Many witnesses later gave statement that he was inebriated but later in the FIR it was shown that his woman accomplice was on the wheels.
Venkitaraman, a second rank holder in the civil service examination in 2013, was once a hero of the state after he blocked a number of encroachments in hill station Munnar and demolished many illegal structures, but his high ratings reportedly fell flat after the accident.
