Thiruvananthapuram: The Crime Branch has filed a charge sheet against suspended bureaucrat Sriram Venkitaraman and Wafa Firoz over a deadly drunk-driving accident that killed a journalist in the Kerala capital last year.
The 66-page charge sheet names Sriram as the first accused and Wafa, the second. Details from over a hundred witnesses have been recorded. 84 material evidences too have been gathered.
The car said to be driven by Sriram, rammed a bike near Museum junction here at midnight on August 3, 2019. KM Basheer, a journalist with a Malayalam newspaper, died on the spot because of the impact of the collision.
The duo, Sriram and Wafa, a passenger in the car, were booked under sections 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence or giving false information) of the Indian Penal Code. They have also been charged under sections 184 (dangerous driving), 185, 188 of the Motor Vehicles Act.
The IAS official has been in suspension since August 4. The officer was then holding the post of the Director of Survey and Land Records.
On January 30, an official's committee chaired by Kerala Chief Secretary Tom Jose had recommended the state government to reinstate the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had, however, extended the suspension for another three months.
The accident
According to the police, Sriram invited Wafa to a party to celebrate his return to service at a Kowdiar flat around midnight on Friday. The young IAS officer had been on leave for over a year for higher studies at Harvard University. The government had appointed him as the director of the Survey and Land Records on Thursday.
Wafa came to the place in her Volkswagen car. However, she couldn't find the officer at his flat.
Wafa tried to contact him on his mobile phone, but all her attempts went in vain. Later, she drove around Vellayambalam-Kowdiar road twice until she found Sriram sitting on a bench at a nearby park.
She stopped the car near a coffee shop opposite Raj Bhavan, after which Sriram took over.
According to the police, Sriram wanted to eat something from Palayam and took the wheels by himself.
While they were on their way to Palayam, the car rammed Basheer's bike at 12.55 am on Saturday.
Sriram had initially said Wafa was behind the wheel.
According to Wafa's reported confession before a magistrate, Sriram attended a party and was under the influence of alcohol.
She also confirmed that Sriram was driving the vehicle from Kowdiar.
Who is Wafa Firoz?
Wafa, a Kollam resident, has been living in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for many years. She works as a model. Police said Wafa knew Sriram for more than a year.
Eye-witness accounts
"I saw the speeding car at 12.45 am," said Shafeeq, an accident witness. "Suddenly I stopped my vehicle. The car banged the ill-fated bike, throwing the rider off it. A man got off the driver's seat. Police arrived at the scene immediately and took the injured man to the hospital in an ambulance," he said.
Another witness Jobi said Sriram looked drunk when he came out of the car. "I was returning from a movie," he said. "Sriram's legs were wobbly. He introduced himself as Sriram, a doctor, to the police. He told them Wafa drove the car," he said.
Jobi said that police heeded Sriram's request to let Wafa go. He then called a taxi and Wafa left the spot. Later, the police took Sriram and the car was towed away.
Sriram's fall from grace
A second rank holder in the 2013 Civil Services exam, Sriram became a darling of the media for taking a strong stand against encroachers on government land at Munnar in Idukki district in 2017.
He was serving as the Devikulam sub-collector then. He courted controversy for dismantling a 30-feet metal cross, put up under the garb of 'spiritual tourism' at Papathychola in Munnar, as part of an anti-encroachment drive.
