Kerala ADM suicide: Congress demands probe by an external agency

Kannur: With every passing day, the suicide case of upright top Kerala official -- Kannur Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Naveen Babu -- appears to be turning murkier.

Fingers are being pointed towards an alleged conspiracy as the Congress party has demanded a probe by an external agency. On the other hand, the family of the deceased has now expressed its displeasure against Kannur district collector Arun K. Vijayan.

However, the Kerala government led by Pinarayi Vijayan is conducting a departmental probe into the entire sequence of events starting from how the Kannur district panchayath president and CPI-M leader P. P. Divya attended Babu’s send-off reception held here on Monday evening when she was not invited to the function.

At the function, Divya alleged how an application for a petrol pump by one person was delayed and she knows how Babu gave the sanction, which she will reveal in two days.

Babu who has been widely appreciated for his clean official life and was to retire in seven months, felt deeply humiliated by Divya’s remarks.

On Tuesday morning, Babu was found hanging at his residence in Kannur, while his wife was waiting to receive him at the Chengannur railway station. Monday was his last day in office at Kannur as he had got a transfer to his home district at Pathanamthitta.

Among those who have praised his clean track record as an official, include State Revenue Minister K. Rajan and numerous others including top political leaders and high-ranking officials.

Meanwhile, on Saturday morning, a piece of news came out that raised eyebrows about the petrol pump’s two documents -- which include a lease rental agreement for the land taken on rent for the proposed petrol pump and then a complaint to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan about how he had to pay a bribe of Rs 98, 500 to Babu.

In the lease rental agreement, the signatory is shown as Prasanth, while in the letter to the Chief Minister, it’s written as T.V. Prasanthan and the signatures in the two documents are also different.

Incidentally, following the huge public outcry, Divya has resigned from her post. On Friday, she filed an anticipatory bail plea at a lower court in Thalassery.

Kannur district Congress President Martin George on Saturday said things are turning murkier in this case and the need of the hour is a probe by an external agency, as they have no faith in the Kerala Police.

Meanwhile, the family of Babu has also expressed their displeasure as the deceased had come under duress from the district collector.

They also have given scant consideration to the letter delivered by Kannur district collector Vijayan. They also did not meet him when he came to pay his last respects to Babu.

Now what remains to be seen is the fate of Divya’s pre-arrest bail plea which has to be decided by a court.