IAS officer arrested for killing scribe in car crash

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 3 

An IAS officer in Kerala has been arrested over a road accident in which KM Basheer, a journalist working with a Malayalam daily, was killed, here on Saturday. He has been charged under non-bailable sections.

IAS officer Sreeram Venkitaraman and a medical professional were accompanied by his lady friend Waha Firoz, to whom the car belonged, were returning after a late-night party. Basheer, 35, bureau chief of the “Siraj” newspaper, was returning home on his two-wheeler around 12.45 am when the car knocked him down in the high-security zone of the state capital. He died on the spot.

Venkitaraman, the director of Surveys, was driving the car at a high speed and was under the influence of alcohol when the accident occurred. The police arrested Venkitaraman from a private hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for injuries received during the accident. He is likely to be shifted to the state-run medical college hospital.

The arrest followed questioning of Firoz, whose statement was also recorded before a magistrate. She told the police the car was being driven by Venkitaraman.

Surprisingly, many CCTV cameras on the road on which the accident took place and is used by VVIPs, including the Chief Minister and the Governor, were not working, the police claimed.

Aravind S Sasi, a senior journalist, said he reached the accident site soon after hearing the news and was shocked that the police, after coming to know that the person involved in the accident was a senior IAS officer, were trying to save him. “The woman was allowed to go home. Venkitaraman was not given the mandatory blood test and was allowed to get treatment at a private hospital,” said Sasi.

Police Commissioner Sanjay Gurudin said, “The forensic examination is on. The blood sample of the person can be taken only after following certain procedures.” — IANS

Drunken driving  

Sreeram Venkitaraman, the director of Surveys, was driving the car at a high speed and was under the influence of alcohol when the accident occurred in the high-security zone of Thiruvananthapuram