Tributes were paid to journalist K.M. Basheer, bureau chief of Malayalam daily Siraj, at a remembrance meet organised on Monday by the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club and the district committee of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists.
Mr. Basheer had died after being hit by a car allegedly driven by IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman under the influence of alcohol.
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Former colleagues, political leaders and journalists gathered in large numbers at the meeting.
But the meeting also filled with comments by various political leaders on the ongoing investigation.
Power Minister M.M. Mani said that the government would do everything it could to support Basheer’s family.
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About the IAS officer
Saying that he had nothing more to speak on the accused IAS officer, about whom he had written in social media, Mr.Mani said that an officer who was supposed to be just, tried to make the friend who was with him an accused.
KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran said that the Chief Minister should act on his words that the high and the mighty would not be protected.
There were serious failings on the part of the police, which would have to be corrected, he said.
Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan said that the government would not protect the accused, however powerful he might be.
Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan said that those who tried to protect and save the accused also would not be spared.
He said that the likes of Sriram were a disgrace to the Civil Services.
Action sought
CPI leader Pannian Raveendran said that the police personnel who tried to scuttle the case should be suspended. He also expressed concern that someone higher up the order must have meddled, as is evident in the weak FIR.