Kerala Journalist Killed By Overspeeding Car Driven By Drunk IAS Officer, Denies He Was On The Driver Seat

KM Basheer, a journalist working with a Malayalam newspaper was killed in a road accident after the bike he was traveling was hit by an overspeeding car. The incident happened in the wee hours of Saturday in Thiruvananthapuram.

The overspeeding car reportedly hit Basheer's bike and dragged it for a distance before he was flung to a nearby wall. The car also crashed on to a nearby tree. There were two occupants on the car, Survey Director Sriram Venkataraman IAS and a woman identified as Wafa Firoz, on whose name the car was registered.

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According to the cops, Venkataraman, who was recently appointed as the Survey Director was heavily drunk at the time of the accident. Despite eyewitness claiming that Venkataraman was behind the wheels when the car lost control, the officer has denied it and claimed that his friend was at the driver seat.

Police said they are examining CCTV footages from the neighborhood to ascertain who was driving the car.?

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Venkataraman who also sustained minor injuries in the accident has been admitted to a local hospital.?

An eyewitness who was on the spot moments after the accident has alleged that the cops let go Venkataraman and his friend after they got to know his identity.?

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Local media are also reporting that the cops had not initially conducted a blood sample test of the duo and et the woman leave the accident spot even after she admitted of driving the car. They even booked an Uber for her.?

Only after the media questioned why she was not examined at the time, the cops summoned her again and took a blood sample for testing.? She has also reportedly changed her initial statement and admitted that it was in fact Venkataraman who was driving at the time of the crash.?

Venkataraman is a 2012 batch IAS officer and had cleared the UPSC Civil Services Examination in his second attempt with an all India second rank.

In 2017 Venkataraman had made headlines after he carried out an anti-encroachment drive in Devikulam near Munnar where he was posted as the sub-collector.