Vijayan govt opposes CBI probe into Kannur ADM suicide case
Kochi (The Uttam Hindu): The Vijayan government on Friday moved the Kerala High Court opposing a CBI probe into the Kannur Additional District Magistrate suicide case. On November 27, the court accepted the petition of K. Manjusha for a CBI probe into the death of her husband Naveen Babu, who was found hanging at his official residence. After a preliminary hearing, the court had directed that notices be served to the Kerala government and the CBI.
On Friday, while the state government opposed the CBI probe, the investigative agency said that if the High Court gave the nod, it was ready to investigate the case. The Court said it would decide on the CBI probe after reviewing whether the police investigation was on the right track, and posted the case for a detailed hearing on December 12.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly V. D. Satheesan said he was sure that the Vijayan government would oppose it as they have done things much against the wishes of Babu's family. Babu was considered one of the "honest" officials in the Revenue Department and Kerala Revenue Minister K. Rajan had also mentioned it, Satheesan said.
Babu was found dead in his official quarters on October 15, a day after he was given an official send-off from Kannur. In her petition, Babu's wife raised concerns about the undue haste with which the inquest and autopsy were conducted before the family members arrived. The tragic event unfolded after P. P. Divya, the Kannur district panchayat president and CPI-M leader arrived at the send-off function uninvited and made some critical remarks against Babu, alleging his involvement in corruption.
When this incident occurred, Kannur District Collector Arun Vijayan, who was presiding over the function, kept mum and did not make any statement when Divya walked out after making curt remarks against Babu. Following the furore over Babu's death, Divya resigned as Kannur district panchayat president. She was on the run for several days after a case was filed against her on October 17. On October 29, after a local court rejected her anticipatory bail, Divya was arrested by the police and lodged at a jail in Kannur till November 8 when she got bail.
In the alleged corruption remark, it later surfaced that one T.V. Prasanth, an electrician who worked at the state-run Medical College at Kannur had applied for a petrol pump and Babu had delayed giving the No Objection Certificate for it. Prasanth and Divya's husband were colleagues at the hospital.
