The State police have drawn public criticism for not investigating the driver of the car that killed journalist K. M. Basheer immediately after the accident and at the spot itself . The untimely death of the journalist caused a public outcry after the police revealed rather belatedly that the “inebriated and reckless driver” behind the wheel was IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman.
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By some eyewitness accounts, the officers who showed up at the spot allegedly failed to photograph or video record the accident scene or collect adequate evidence to prosecute the driver.
Instead, the officers hustled the driver away in a police van to the General Hospital (GH) here without questioning him on the spot or the nearby station. They made little effort to identify him or record his statement.
The police also did not immediately record the accounts of at least three persons who had witnessed the accident. General Hospital doctors declined to do a blood alcohol concentration test on Mr. Venkitaraman purportedly because the police had no document to testify to the legal circumstances under which law enforcers had brought the driver to the hospital.
To private hospital
The government doctors had referred Mr. Venkitaraman to the Government Medical College Hospital. However, the police took him in their van to a private multi-speciality hospital.
Senior officers rushed to the Museum police station after a journalists’ union expressed outrage over the handling of the crash investigation and the government sought a report on the incident from the law enforcement. They soon despatched two Assistant Commissioners of Police to question Mr. Venkitaraman, who had been admitted to a private hospital with minor injuries. The officers also collected his blood sample to detect alcohol impairment, if any.
Police deny charge
Meanwhile, senior police officers have denied the allegation that they had given the IAS officer leeway to dodge prosecution. They said the police had followed due procedure as prescribed by law and there was no preferential treatment as alleged.
