'Blood on Sriram's hand': Eyewitness with crucial statement in KM Basheer's death case

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sriram Venkataraman, director of the agriculture department, accused in the death of journalist KM Basheer, is in the dock again after a crucial statement surfaced against him. Mithun Thomas, the fifth witness in the case and PWD office watchman, disclosed the details in the court. Mithun testified in the court that when he saw Sriram after the accident, with blood on his hands.

On the day of the accident, Mithun and his friend Anil Kumar were on duty in the office. Mithun did not see the accident but heard the loud noise and reached the spot to see the car lying astray. At that time, there was a woman with Sriram. The next day, the news of the accident appeared in the media. Mithun testified in the court that he came to know about journalist KM Basheer only through the news. Anil Kumar, the fourth witness in the case, had earlier given his statement.

The sole accused in the case, Sriram Venkitaraman, has been charged with culpable homicide and destruction of evidence. KM Basheer, the Thiruvananthapuram bureau chief of Siraj newspaper, died on August 3, 2019, when the car in which Sriram Venkitaraman and his friend Wafa Firoz were travelling crashed into the journalist's bike.