Plea before Kerala High Court seeks CBI probe into road rage case against Collector Sriram Venkitaraman IAS

The brother of late KM Basheer, who died in an alleged road rage incident involving IAS officer Sreeram Venkitaraman, has approached the Kerala High Court seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the same [Abdurahiman v State of Kerala & Ors.]..The petitioner contended that his brother, Basheer, was deliberately killed by his acquaintance, the influential IAS Officer, who hit him with his car with the intention to murder him.The plea alleged that prior to his death, Basheer had received some evidence including a video, showing Venkitaraman's illegitimate relationship with Wafa Firoz, who is arrayed as the second accused in the above crime. When Venkitaraman found out about this, he attempted to procure the material but since he failed to do so, he decided to murder Basheer, the petitioner contended..After Basheer was killed on August 3, 2019, Museum Police, Thiruvananthapuram completed the investigation and filed a charge sheet before the Sessions Court, Thiruvananthapuram and the same is now pending..The petitioner submitted that police authorities have been aiding Venkitaraman throughout. Even though it was clear that he was inebriated at the time of his arrest and was taken to district hospital, the police wilfully did not conduct his medical examination and blood test, so as to save him from legal liabilities, it was submitted.The plea alleged that even though he was referred to the medical college from the district hospital, Venkitaraman, using his influence and violating protocol, ensured that he was taken to KIMS Hospital for further procedures. A staff nurse at the KIMS hospital, in a statement to the prosecution, said that that the accused intimidated her when she came forward to collect his blood, the plea said.The petitioner also pointed out several other discrepancies such as the time recorded by the police when they reached the place of occurrence, and omissions in the Mahazar. Further, the plea alleged that though two mobile phones were in possession of Basheer, the police wrongly stated in the Mahazar that they recovered only one. This itself confirms the fact that the prosecution has extensively helped the accused to achieve his ulterior motives and that is still being continued so as to save him from heinous murder, the petitioner contended. "It is humbly submitted that, that the accused being a highly influential IAS officer in the State of Kerala, has adversely effected the investigation of the above crime and also in all the likelihood, he may influence the witnesses to dilute the prosecution, which could lead to the petitioner and his family being denied justice," the plea said.Therefore, the petitioner stated that he is constrained to approach the High Court to transfer the investigation to the CBI, an agency outside the limits of Venkitaraman's influence.Advocates PT Sheejish, Martin Jose, Abdul Rahman A and T Varnibha are representing the petitioner. .Recently, the appointment of Venkitaraman as the Alappuzha District Collector elicited protests from many groups across the state, including the Kerala Union of Working Journalists.One such protest, organised by the Kerala Muslim Jamaath, was widely circulated by social media users, a section of whom chose to attach communal colors to it and claim that Muslims were protesting the appointment of a Hindu Brahmin man as District Collector. This claim was debunked by various sources.