Thiruvananthapuram: The probe into the car accident involving Kerala IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman is well on with the investigators bringing the event data recorder (EDR) of the vehicle under scanner. This is being done to ascertain the car's speed at the time of the accident that had occurred around 12.55 am on August 3. Journalist K M Basheer was killed as the car driven apparently by the bureaucrat rammed the former's bike on a city road.
This EDR, akin to the black box in planes, can give data on car's speed and the direction during the time of the accident. (In-vehicle data recorders include both crash data recorders and journey data recorders. EDRs collect data over a period before and after the crash. They are set on the airbag control module and will stop functioning once the airbag has deployed during an impact.)
Probe officer DySP Sheen Tharayil has shot off a letter to the car manufacturer's office in Pune, seeking a detailed report after checking the EDR. The police plan to carry out the checks on the car on Wednesday after the company staff arrive in the city.
Crucial witness deposes
Meanwhile, another witness has deposed to the police that Sriram's car was speeding at the time of the accident. Uber Eats delivery boy Benson gave the crucial statement to the police.
Benson said he was riding past the area on his scooter when the accident happened. In his statement to the police, Benson said that he saw the speeding car knocking down Basheer's bike. He also confirmed that Sriram was driving the car. The statements of more people would be taken in the coming days.
The probe team has decided to collect the images from the CCTV cameras placed on either side of the road from Kowdiar to LMS Junction. The team would check the cameras of police, the Motor Vehicles Department, private establishments, flats and business outlets. The police have given notice to all those who have fitted cameras in this region.
The Museum police that had initially probed the case had said that they did not receive images earlier and the ones they received were of low quality.
Sriram discharged
Sriram has been discharged from the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital. The medical team found Sriram's condition to be satisfactory and the IAS officer left the hospital by 5.30 pm on Monday. The doctors have advised him four weeks of rest.
The High Court had earlier granted him bail.
Sriram was admitted to the Medical College Hospital around 9 pm on August 4 after he was remanded. The accused, who was admitted to the police cell, was moved to the trauma care ICU of the superspeciality wing of the public hospital within hours.
Initially Sriram who was taken to the District General Hospital had sought treatment at a private hospital.
The doctors claimed that Sriram was suffering from retrograde amnesia, a medical condition in which a person forgets events that happened couple of hours prior to a traumatic incident. This finding by doctors had raised an uproar.
