THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman and Wafa Najim, who are the accused in the case of ‘Siraj’ journalist K M Basheer’s death in an accident, will appear for trial before the Sessions Court here on August 9. The Judicial First Class Magistrate had earlier posted the case to the Sessions Court. It will be the maiden appearance of the accused before the said court in connection with the case that had gained notoriety.
Basheer was mowed down by a car allegedly driven by Sriram near Museum Junction here in the early hours of August 3 two years ago. Sriram was allegedly in an inebriated state, while being accompanied by Wafa, who owned the vehicle.
The accident and the subsequent botched probe had created a huge controversy. Despite the eyewitness’ account that he was drunk, the police allegedly delayed his medical tests. There were also efforts to portray the woman as the one who had driven the car when the accident occurred.
After the local police came under fire for trying to shield the IAS officer, a special team was formed to probe the incident. They found scientific evidence suggesting that it was Sriram, who was at the wheel, and the vehicle had exceeded the speed limit. The chargesheet was filed by the police team on February 1, 2020.