Petition filed by Naveen Babu's family: CPM and government in the dock

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Left government and the CPM state leadership have come under fire with the family of Kannur ADM Naveen Babu filing a petition in the High Court seeking a CBI probe into his death. Manjusha, wife of Naveen Babu, who was also a party family member, pointed out in the petition that the police investigation was not satisfactory and that since PP Divya was a CPM leader, she may sabotage the investigation using her influence at the administrative level.

The message that is coming out now is that Naveen Babu's family is not taking at face value the claim of the CPM and the government that they are with the family from the beginning. It is speculated that the bail granted to former Kannur district panchayat president PP Divya, who was arrested as an accused in the death case, and the fact that the investigation in the case has not reached anywhere, has eroded the family's faith in the government and the party. Naveen's family's trust could not be regained by the disciplinary action taken by the CPM against Divya based on the incident. While the party's Pathanamthitta district unit reiterates its support, the Kannur unit is pulling the strings to sabotage the case.

Though the revenue minister submitted the investigation report conducted by Land Revenue Joint Commissioner Geetha in connection with the death of Naveen Babu to the Chief Minister, no further action has been taken on it. The complaint allegedly lodged by TV Prasanth, who allegedly bribed Naveen Babu to grant permission for a petrol pump, was proved to be false. The government is silent on this as well.

Prasanth, an electrical helper at Pariyaram Medical College, was suspended based on the inquiry conducted directly by Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Rajan Khobragade and Joint Director of Medical Education Dr KV Viswanathan. Though the health minister said that Prashanth would be dismissed from service, no further action was taken.

Naveen Babu's family had made it clear that they do not trust district collector Arun K Vijayan, who was Naveen Babu's superior. The statement given by the collector to the investigating team contrary to the statement given in the departmental inquiry was also controversial. The demand to remove him from his post has not been accepted so far.