Scribe run over by car driven by IAS officer

Journalist KM Basheer

Thiruvananthapuram: A journalist working for a Malayalam daily was killed on Saturday after being hit by a speeding car driven by an IAS officer. The accident occurred when KM Basheer, 35, bureau chief of the Siraj newspaper, was returning home on his two-wheeler around 12.45 am when the car knocked him down in the high security zone area of the state capital. He died on the spot.

The road on which the accident took place is often used by VVIPs, including the Chief Minister and the Governor. But the police said that many of the CCTV cameras in the area were not working. A witness told the media: "I was overtaken by the speeding car after which it hit the bike. The driver was under the influence of alcohol. A lady was also with him."

Another witness said: "The man who was driving the car was drunk. He was in total panic after the accident and it was I who called the police. Soon, the police arrived and he called a taxi and sent away the lady who was with him." It was later found that the IAS officer in question was Sreeram Venkitaraman, accompanied by his female friend Waha Firoz to whom the car belonged, according to records from the State Motor Authority.

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