‘Spoke to Divya on phone, she was not invited for farewell'; had good relationship with ADM, says collector

KANNUR: Collector Arun K Vijayan said P P Divya, former district panchayat president, was not invited for the farewell function held in the collectorate. The collector reiterated this in his statement to the joint commissioner of land revenue. Divya in her anticipatory bail plea filed in the Thalassery court said that she attended the function as per the instructions of the collector. It is alleged that the ADM took the drastic step after Divya levelled corruption allegations against him at the farewell function.

The collector told edia that on the day of Naveen Babu's farewell, he had talked to Divya on the phone. The same statement was also given to the investigation team. I don’t intend to divulge what I said. He said that he had not invited Divya to the farewell meeting. Don’t want to respond to her statement that she was invited. That is her claim. The collector said whether he spoke to the ADM after the farewell meeting was also part of the statement.

I have not sought transfer. The government has to decide on my transfer. Had a good relationship with the ADM. Had not denied leave. Have not talked to Divya after the demise of ADM. The collector also said that the delay in issuing the NOC for the petrol pump was not noticed earlier. An investigation by the land revenue commissioner and the police are going on.