THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Saifudeen Haji, director of Siraj daily, at which journalist KM Basheer worked, has lashed out at the police report that allegedly blames Haji’s stubborn approach for the delay in IAS officer Sriram Venkataraman’s blood test. Basheer was fatally knocked down by the car driven by Sriram.
The test to check the presence of alcohol in the blood was conducted on Sriram nine hours after the accident. The result was negative and had proved decisive in Sriram getting bail from the local court.
The controversial police report filed at a local court here prompted Haji to come out against the police. He said the interim report was shocking and baseless.
Haji said his statement was recorded between 4 am and 5.30 am. But the police record shows the FIR being registered at 7.27 am. The IAS officer’s blood sample was taken only at 5.30 pm, he said.
He added that the deceased journalist’s mobile phone was active even an hour after the accident and criticised the police for failing to retrieve it.
The management on its part will be meeting Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday to air their grievances against the ongoing probe by the Special Investigation Team.