A day after ADM’s ‘suicide’, relatives accuse panchayat head | Latest news India

A day after Kannur Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Naveen Babu was found dead in a suspected case of suicide, his family on Wednesday filed a complaint with the local police demanding action against the CPM leader and Kannur district panchayat president PP Divya, officials aware of the situation said. thing said.

ADM Babu was found dead in his government quarters early on Tuesday.

Protests by the opposition Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the CPI(M) leadership, particularly Divya, continued in Kannur on Wednesday, with protesters marching towards her residence and demanding her resignation.

Praveen Babu, the brother of the deceased tax official, has filed a formal complaint with the Kannur city police, alleging that Divya’s comments, which she made during the farewell ceremony organized for Babu in Kannur on Monday, played a role in his alleged suicide. SHO of the city police station said on condition of anonymity.

“We have received his (Praveen Babu) complaint. We have not filed a separate FIR in this regard as the investigation into the officer’s death is already underway and all angles are being explored. It is an unnatural death and all factors leading to his death will be investigated,” the officer said.

At the farewell function organized for ADM Babu, who was transferred to Pathanamthitta ahead of his retirement next year, Divya made scathing allegations against him in connection with the approval of the license of a water pump gasoline in Chengala. She alleged that he delayed the approval of the petrol pump and alluded to his involvement in bribery.

Divya, who abruptly entered the farewell ceremony without invitation and left soon after making the remarks, reportedly said, “I had called him several times asking him to visit the place where the water pump was located. essence. He then said that he had visited the site and it was difficult to give an AC due to some bends in the road. I know how this NOC was given. She also said that the officer should perform more honestly in his new post in Pathanamthitta.

Prasanth, a relative of a known CPM leader in Kannur and owner of the petrol pump in Chengala, told reporters on Tuesday that he had paid a bribe to ₹98,000 to the officer in exchange for the no-objection certificate.

However, Babu’s family members and close friends said he was an honest officer and would never take bribes. They alleged that Prasanth’s claims about the bribe were an attempt to protect Divya.