'ADM Naveen Babu admitted mistake'; Kannur Collector reiterates statement

KANNUR: The Special Investigation Team re-recorded Kannur District Collector Arun K Vijayan's statement on the death of former ADM Naveen Babu. The collector reiterated his former stance of Naveen Babu admitting ‘mistakes’.

Meanwhile, the family of Naveen Babu continued to doubt the discrepancy in Collector’s statements and moreover alleged the bonhomie that Collector harboured with CPM functionary PP Divya. According to the family, the collector is trying all the tricks in his book to save PP Divya.

“Collector maintained a sour relationship with ADM Naveen Babu. He often showed his authoritarian side whenever it came to granting leave to Naveen. The release was also delayed despite receiving the transfer order. Naveen shared this detail with his family members. It is also for this same reason that the collector dissociated from the final rites of Naveen.” Said the family.

It is learned that the investigation team re-recorded the collector's statement after the relatives repeated the allegations in the High Court. Land Revenue Joint Commissioner A. Geetha had earlier reached the Kannur Collectorate to take the statement of Arun K Vijayan.

According to the collector:

After PP Divya’s harangue at ADM Naveen Babu at the farewell function, the ADM approached the collector and admitted his wrong.