Six-member police team formed to probe Kerala ADM’s suicide

Thiruvananthapuram: Ten days after the Kannur Additional District Magistrate Naveen Babu was found hanging at his official quarters, a special team comprising high ranking police officials was formed on Friday to take forward the ongoing probe.

However, both the Congress and the BJP claim that since the prime ‘accused’ in the case is a top local CPI-M leader, any probe by the police will not bring out the truth and hence there should be an external probe.

N. Haridas, the Kannur district BJP president said the very fact that Divya (CPI-M leader P.P. Divya) has gone missing speaks what is happening in the case.

“The very fact that Divya is still not traced out shows where the case is heading. Everything in the suicide case is looking mysterious and hence only an external agency probe will bring out the truth,” said Haridas.

Former Home Minister and veteran Congress legislator Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said the state government is playing truant and just see till now this was probed by an ordinary Station House Officer (SHO).

"It’s been days and where has she disappeared. Did the present probe come out with a look out notice? This government is not sincere in its probe as they want to save the prime accused. Only an external probe will bring out the real truth,” said Radhakrishnan.

The special team is headed by Kannur City Police Commissioner Ajith Kumar and his deputy besides four others.

Till now, this was probed by a local police station’s Station House Officer.

The new team has been asked to go into the entire sequence of events besides there has to be daily reporting of the progress in the probe.

The fresh team will look into the call details of Divya, Prasanth (the complainant that Babu had taken a bribe of Rs 98,500 for sanctioning a petrol pump), the Kannur district collector, who has denied that it was he who had invited Divya to the sendoff function.

Following a huge outburst, Divya who was the Kannur district panchayath president has gone into hiding and after two rounds of her anticipatory bail plea was heard by a local court in Kannur, it has now been posted for October 29.

Locals said that Babu was deeply hurt when at his send-off function held on Monday, Divya, made serious corruption charges against him.

Divya had not been invited to the function and had barged in.

Divya said that a person had approached her to speak to Babu with regards to the sanctioning of a petrol pump station, which he (Babu) had not been giving despite several requests.

“Just two days before his retirement, Babu gave the sanction. I know how the sanction was given and I reveal all the details in two days,” she said.

It has also now surfaced that Prasanth who works as an electrician and Divya’s husband are colleagues at the state-run medical college and hospital at Kannur.

Eyebrows have also been raised on how come an ordinary electrician can set up a petrol pump.