IAS Officer’s Car Kills Journalist In Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: A 35-year-old journalist was killed when his motorcycle was hit by a car driven by an IAS officer here early on Saturday, police said.

Survey Director Sreeram Venkitaraman was driving the car which rammed into K Muhammed Basheer’s motorcycle, killing him on the spot. The incident happened around 1 am, news agency PTI reported.

Basheer was the Thiruvananthapuram bureau chief of Malayalam daily Siraj.

“There were conflicting statements. We have now confirmed from independent witnesses that Sreeram Venkitaraman was driving the vehicle,” Thiruvananthapuram Police Commissioner Dhinendra Kashyap told PTI.

The blood samples of the official have also been taken, he said. A woman was also in the car when the accident took place, he added.

Eyewitness told reporters that a man, in an inebriate state, was driving the car rashly.
While the young IAS officer reportedly told police that his friend, the woman, was driving the car, a senior police official told PTI that the woman has in her statement said Venkitaraman was behind the wheels.

Venkitaraman, who is also said to be injured, has been admitted to a private hospital.

A case has been registered under section IPC279 (rash driving on a public way) and 304A (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder), police said.

Meanwhile, Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) has demanded a proper and truthful investigation in the case.