Drunk IAS officer arrested after his car knocks down scribe,

IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman was arrested here Saturday nearly 17 hours after a car he drove in an allegedly inebirated condition fatally knocked down a journalist here, police said.

The 33-year-old IAS officer, who was appointed Survey Director by the state cabinet on Thursday, was arrested under Section 279 (Rash driving on a public way) and 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code.

"We have recorded the arrest of Venkitaraman at the hospital.We have charged him under Section 279 and 304 of the IPC," an investigating officer told PTI.

The official has been charged under a non-bailable offence and could serve an imprisonment upto 10 years, IGP and Thiruvananthapuram city police commissioner Dhinendra Kashyap told PTI.

 

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said his government would do everything possible to bring to justice those responsible for the death of Basheer.

In a Facebook Post, Vijayan also said he would take necessary steps to ensure the safety of journalists.

Venkitaraman, also a Medical doctor and Fullbright Fellow, allegedly drove his car in a rash manner and hit the stationary motorcycle of K Muhammed Basheer (35), Bureau Chief of Malayalam newspaper 'Siraj', at a road in the heart of the city as he was returning home from work.

Basheer is survived by his wife and two children.

The IAS officer had just days before returned to Kerala after completing a Master of Public Health Programme at Harvard University in the US.

Meanwhile, people from various walks of life, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, state ministers Kadakampally Surendran, E Chandrashekharan, P Thilothaman, Opposition leader in the assembly Ramesh Chennithala, CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran and other MLAs paid their respects to Basheer after his mortal remains were brought to the Press Club here.

The journalist fraternity here paid a tearful adieu to Basheer, who was a popular face among the media and social circle for over 12 years.

The body was later taken to his home town at Vatakara in Kozhikode for the burial, which is to be held later tonight.

Venkitaraman was reportedly returning after a party in a club in a posh area of the capital city and driving the car.

His woman friend Wafa Firoze, a model and the wife of a Dubai-based businessman, and the car owner, was also in the vehicle at the time of the mishap.

Police came under severe criticism as it took them nearly nine hours to collect the blood sample of the officer for medical examination, even as eye witnesses told police and the media that Venkitaraman was found drunk behind the wheels.

Though the IAS officer initially claimed it was his friend who drove the car, witnesses maintained that it was a man who came out of the driver's side in an inebirated state.

Later, Wafa Firoze also gave a statement to police that it was Venkitaraman who was driving her car.

Police said they had taken Wafa to the magistrate to record her statement.

Parts of the motorbike and the car were strewn around and Basheer's slippers and some articles were found metres away from the accident spot.

Eyewitnesses told television channels that the car overtook some autorickshaws and hit the bike at high speed.

Under the impact of the collision, Basheer, who was flung off his bike, suffered serious injuries and died on the spot.

Venkitaraman, who was also injured, got himself admitted to a private hospital here.

He will be produced before a magistrate, police said.

The Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) has demanded a proper and truthful investigation in the case to bring the guilty to book.

Transport Minister A K Saseendran said IAS officers should set an example to others by following rules strictly.

The officials of the motor vehicle department said that the driving licence of the officer would be suspended.

Expressing deep shock and grief, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the media fraternity had lost a member who had a bright future.

"When I saw his face for the last time, I felt like a family member has left us", vijayan said in a Facebook post.

Ramesh Chennithala and Kadakkampally Surendran were among those who expressed grief on the death of the journalist.

The KUWJ has also shot off separate letters to Vijayan and DGP Loknath Behera, demanding an impartial and transparent probe into the incident and that culprits be booked.

A second rank holder in the 2013 Civil Services exam, Venkitaraman had shot into the limelight for taking a strong stand against encroachers on government land at the hill station of Munnar in Idukki district while serving as the Devikulam sub-collector in 2017.

He gained media attention when he had brought down a 30-feet tall metal cross, put up under the garb of 'spiritual tourism' at Papathychola in Munnar, as part of an official anti-encroachment drive.

Chief Minister Vijayan had expressed strong displeasure over his act and his cabinet colleague M M Mani had kicked up a controversy for making unsavoury remarks against the IAS officer.

The Left government had later transferred and appointed Venkitaram as the Employment and Training Director.