Journalist Killed In Road Accident, IAS Officer Gets Arrested

A young journalist was killed in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram city after a car rammed into his bike. The city police were investigating young IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman, who was in the car driving at that time. Police say that, there is suspicion of alcohol-impaired reckless driving that resulted in the death of journalist K. M. Basheer in a road accident. 

As per The News Minute report, Kerala IAS officer Venkitraman has been arrested in connection with the case after the car in which the IAS officer was travelling rammed into his motorcycle. Sriram has been booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 279 (Rash driving or riding on a public way) and 304 (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder).

During initial investigation, it was stated that a woman friend of the IAS officer, was driving the car. Meanwhile, eyewitnesses state that they had seen Sriram behind the wheels of the car.

According to auto drivers who witnessed the accident, Sriram himself got out of the car, removed the journalist from the bike and placed him on the ground, reported Asianet. The accident took place in front of the Public Office complex in the city around 1 a.m.

Additional Commissioner of Police K. Sanjay Kumar Gurudin, told The Hindu that "forensic experts have taken fingerprints and have also collected hair and blood samples from the car. They have also sampled the IAS officer's blood to determine whether the alcohol concentration had exceeded the legal limit."

"Also, doctors at the General Hospital who attended to Venkitaraman after the accident had written to the police that they noted smell of alcohol in his breath," police added.

The police have filed an FIR at the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court in connection with the incident. They have also booked the unidentified driver for "rash and negligent driving" resulting in death under section 304 (a) and 279 of the Indian Penal Code.