THIRUVANTHAPURAM: IAS officer Sriram Venkataraman has been placed under suspension by Chief Secretary Tom Jose on Monday.
The suspension comes after Sriram was sent to 14-day judicial custody in connection with the death of Kerala-based journalist KM Basheer in a late-night road accident. The officer, who was alleged to be driving the car involved in the accident, was initially said to be under the influence of alcohol.
In the chemical examiner's report handed over to the police, though, it has been mentioned that no alcohol was found in the blood sample. This was expected as, in a glaring lapse on the part of investigators, the blood samples were taken only nine hours after the accident.
It is under the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965 that the Venkataraman has been suspended. As per the Rules, if the period of detention of an officer exceeds 48 hours, and unless he is already under suspension, he will be deemed to be under suspension from the date of detention until further orders.
Sriram, who was shifted to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital from KIMS Hospital, is currently admitted to the multidisciplinary ICU.
The medical board that convened on Monday concluded that though the officer had no grave injuries he is suffering from mental trauma.