Kerala journalist's death: outcry over police ‘inaction’

Lapses in investigating accident involving IAS officer

Updated - November 28, 2021 12:29 pm IST - Thiruvananthapuram

Sriram Venkitaraman.

Sriram Venkitaraman.

The State police have drawn public criticism for not investigating the driver of the car that killed journalist K. M. Basheer immediately after the accident and at the spot itself . The untimely death of the journalist caused a public outcry after the police revealed rather belatedly that the “inebriated and reckless driver” behind the wheel was IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman.

Also read: Kerala stunned at the involvement of once-celebrated bureaucrat

By some eyewitness accounts, the officers who showed up at the spot allegedly failed to photograph or video record the accident scene or collect adequate evidence to prosecute the driver.

Instead, the officers hustled the driver away in a police van to the General Hospital (GH) here without questioning him on the spot or the nearby station. They made little effort to identify him or record his statement.

The police also did not immediately record the accounts of at least three persons who had witnessed the accident. General Hospital doctors declined to do a blood alcohol concentration test on Mr. Venkitaraman purportedly because the police had no document to testify to the legal circumstances under which law enforcers had brought the driver to the hospital.

To private hospital

The government doctors had referred Mr. Venkitaraman to the Government Medical College Hospital. However, the police took him in their van to a private multi-speciality hospital.

 

Senior officers rushed to the Museum police station after a journalists’ union expressed outrage over the handling of the crash investigation and the government sought a report on the incident from the law enforcement. They soon despatched two Assistant Commissioners of Police to question Mr. Venkitaraman, who had been admitted to a private hospital with minor injuries. The officers also collected his blood sample to detect alcohol impairment, if any.

Police deny charge

Meanwhile, senior police officers have denied the allegation that they had given the IAS officer leeway to dodge prosecution. They said the police had followed due procedure as prescribed by law and there was no preferential treatment as alleged.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.