IAS officer gets bail in road death case

TRIVANDRUM: A court in Kerala on Tuesday released on bail young bureaucrat Sreeram Venkataraman whom the police arrested last week on charges of manslaughter.

His speeding car crashed into the motorbike of journalist K. Mohammed Basheer past midnight Saturday ater an alleged late-night bash, killing him instantly.

The Judicial First Class Magistrate Court here rejected the prosecution argument for his trial for manslaughter as it could not prove he was drunk.

The court also dropped charges under Section 304 of Indian Penal Code for culpable homicide and applied 304 (a) which is for causing death by negligence.

The state government had suspended him from service and ordered an internal inquiry on Monday. Sources said it would also appeal against the court verdict.

On Sunday, police had shited him from a luxury hospital to the prisoners’ cell of the Government Medical College Hospital in the city ater public outrage.

He’s since been shited to the intensive trauma care unit under the observation of a five-member medical board headed by the hospital superintendent.

In the court, his counsel argued that he’s a law-abiding citizen booked under pressure from media, and his blood samples tested negative for alcohol.

The Indian Administrative Services officer, widely praised for taking on powerful politicians protecting land grabbers, remains in hospital since his arrest.

The Opposition and journalists were protesting against the government for allowing him, a trained physician, to stay in the hospital and continue in service despite serious charges.

They fear the government was trying to weaken the case and save the culprit who was allegedly on a high but still at the wheel with his female companion.

The crash, fatally knocking down Basheer, happened at the Museum junction, barely 100 metres away from the police station around 12:55 am on a high-security broadway.

Following the court verdict, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) took out a protest march to the police headquarters accusing them of weakening the case.

They demanded chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to ask his police to cancel their first information report (FIR) and conduct the probe properly.