Sriram Venkitaraman
Alappuzha: Congress party raised strong protests against the appointment of Sriram Venkitaraman in the post of Alappuzha district collector. AICC general secretary KC Venugopal opined that the appointment of the IAS officer was an unfortunate incident. Another Congress leader AA Shukoor called Sriram a ‘tainted person’ and urged the government to discard his appointment.
“Sriram Venkitaraman has caused the death of the journalist KM Basheer. It was a tragic death similar to murder. He is a disreputed person and hence, his appointment as district collector should be cancelled. There are vested interests behind the appointment,” said Shukoor.
KC Venugopal questioned the intentions behind giving the full power of a district to an accused.
Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Salim Madavoor also condemned the appointment through a Facebook post. Salim said that being arrogant Sriram was not willing to publicly apologise to the Basheer's family.
It was on the last day, that the state government released an order appointing Sriram Venkitaraman who was the joint director of the health department as the district collector of Alappuzha. Following the accident which claimed the life of KM Basheer, several allegations were raised against Sriram accusing he attempted to escape from the case using his influence. Another accused in the case, Wafa Firoz, who was with the IAS officer during the accident had testified that Sriram was drunk and his car was overspeeding during the time of the accident which claimed Basheer's life.