Kerala High Court rejects state govt's bail appeal for accused IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman over journalist's death

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday rejected the appeal by the state government against the bail plea of IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman, an accused in KM Basheer death case. [caption id=“attachment_7104581” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Journalist KM Basheer was killed in a car accident in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. ANI[/caption] Dismissing the plea Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan said that there was no need for the custodial investigation. Sriram got the bail from the Judicial Magistrate’s (First Class) court at Thiruvananthapuram on 6 August. The public prosecutor stated in its petition that “the respondent (Sriram Venkitaraman) being a Civil Service Office, there is every chance of him to influence the witness and to tamper the evidence and hamper the investigation.” The 35-year-old, Trivandrum bureau chief of Siraaj daily, was killed allegedly after a speeding car driven by Sriram rammed into his bike in Thiruvananthapuram in the wee hours on 3 August. In a statement recorded of Sriram after the accident, the officer had claimed that at the time of the accident, the car was driven by his friend. However, the journalist fraternity had alleged that there were lapses from the police during the probe. The fraternity also claimed that the police did not conduct Sriram’s blood test.