Kannur ADM's suicide: Investigation reveals gaping holes in bribery complaint against Naveen Babu

Kannur: The bribery complaint against ADM Naveen Babu, who died by suicide, filed by petrol station owner Prasanth, is now being questioned as potentially false. Recent documents have surfaced that cast doubt on Prasanth's allegations, which claim that Naveen demanded a bribe to issue a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for a petrol pump in Chengalayi here.

The application submitted for the petrol pump lists the applicant's name as "Prasanth," while the complaint sent to the Chief Minister refers to him as "Prasanthan." The signatures on both documents do not match as well, suggesting discrepancies that point to the possibility that the bribery claim may not be credible. In the lease agreement for the petrol pump, the name is recorded as "Prasanth T. V.," while the complaint records "Prasanthan T.V." The differences in both names and signatures raise questions about the authenticity of the complaint.

Suspicions have also emerged regarding Prasanth's status as a petrol station owner. Questions have been raised about how someone with a background as an electrician at Kannur Medical College could afford to invest crores of rupees to start a petrol pump.

Meanwhile, there are indications that district panchayat president PP Divya has gone into hiding to evade police interrogation and a possible arrest in connection with the death of ADM Naveen Babu. Reports suggest that the police have yet to succeed in interrogating Divya regarding the incident. According to the police, they could not find Divya at her house or in her relatives’ place.

It was on Tuesday morning that Kannur ADM Naveen Babu was found dead by suicide at his quarters in Pallikkunnu, Kannur. During the farewell function arranged for his transfer to Pathanamthitta on Monday at the Kannur collectorate, PP Divya openly humiliated him before his colleagues. She alleged that the ADM had engaged in corrupt deals to issue a NOC to a petrol pump. She stated that she has documents supporting this and would release them when the right time comes.