THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Wafa Firoze, the woman who was with IAS officer Sriram Venkataraman at the time of the accident, has testified in her secret statement to the magistrate that the officer was drunk and speeding when the incident occurred. In her statement, a copy of which was accessed by media, Wafa said that Sriram was “slightly drunk” and “had a smell of alcohol”.
She begins thus: “I’ve a 16-year-old daughter. I came from Bahrain for a month’s vacation. Sriram is my friend. He drove the car at the time of the accident”.
Wafa said it all started with her usual “Good Night” message to friends, including Sriram. “Normally he would not respond, but yesterday he did. He asked whether I had my car with me. I said yes. He then asked me to come to Kowdiar”.
Wafa left home after telling her daughter she had to drop Sriram, according to the statement.
“Sriram was on phone near Kowdiar Park. After completing the call, he entered the car. I drove the car,” said Wafa in her statement.
“When we reached near Cafe Coffee Day shop, Sriram volunteered to drive the car. He asked: Do you want me to drive? I said: If you want to drive you can,” according to Wafa.
Wafa said Sriram stepped out and came to the driving seat and she moved to the passenger’s seat in the front. “The vehicle was overspeeding since there was no signal light. I asked him to slow down several times. But he drove fast. A bike was moving slow along the road after Museum Police Station. Our vehicle was very fast and hence hit the bike,” she said.
The woman said they both tried their “maximum” to save the rider by turning the car or by applying brakes, but failed. After the accident, both of them came out of the car.
“Sriram lifted the rider up and brought him to the road. But no one bothered to intervene. Police came. Everyone told me to go home, so I went home and came back to the station at 2 pm” she said.
Wafa said the accident would not have happened if she was at the wheel. “All these were not done purposely,” she said in the end.
While Wafa claims that Sriram was “slightly drunk”, onlookers who rushed to the spot had told media persons that he was heavily drunk. One of them said Sriram had requested him to take the injured to the hospital on the latter’s bike.