THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The hearing in the case relating to the death of journalist KM Basheer in a road accident here began at the District and Sessions Court on Monday, two years after he was fatally knocked down by a speeding car driven allegedly by IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman.
Sriram and his friend Wafa Najim, who was also in the car when it mowed down the bureau chief of the Malayalam daily ‘Siraj’ in front of the Public Office in the early hours of August 3, appeared before the court and submitted details of their bail. The case will now be heard on September 27.
This was the maiden appearance of the two accused before the Sessions Court after the case was transferred here by the First Class Judicial Magistrate Court. The chargesheet filed by the Crime Branch special team revealed that Sriram was at the wheel when the accident occurred and the vehicle was galloping well beyond the permissible speed limit.
Dramatic scenes followed the court proceedings as a group of lawyers manhandled Siraj photojournalist T Sivajikumar as he was clicking the picture of Wafa leaving the court. The lawyers rounded up the photographer, who was a colleague of Basheer, and seized his mobile phone that was used to snap the pictures.His identity card was also taken away, while the policemen posted on the premises remained mere spectators.
A Circle Inspector allegedly precipitated the violence by heckling Sivajikumar while the latter was performing his duty and soon a section of lawyers joined in. The lawyers also attempted to manhandle Kerala Union of Working Journalists district president Suresh Vellimangalam, who reached the scene. Sivajikumar later lodged a complaint with the Vanchiyoor police. The journalists, meanwhile, held a protest gathering in the city against the attack.
For the past couple of years, there has been an undeclared ban on journalists covering court proceedings. The issue had begun after the tussle between journalists and lawyers at the Kerala High Court in 2016. As the case against Sriram was scheduled for Monday, a group of lawyers assembled there with the intention of taking on reporters knowing that they will be coming to report the court proceedings.