Thiruvananthapuram: The driving licence of the main accused, IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman, has been suspended for one year. It has already been two weeks since his car met with an accident killing Kerala journalist KM Basheer on August 3. The deceased worked as the Thiruvananthapuram unit chief of Siraj newspaper. 

Thiruvananthapuram Regional Transport Office (RTO) took action according to the Motor Vehicles Act. Meanwhile, the RTO has also granted legal permission to file an appeal within 30 days.  Venkitaraman was arrested, remanded to judicial custody and granted bail in the accident case related to journalist Basheer.

Also read: Kerala journalist Basheer death case: Driving licence of main accused Sriram Venkitaraman yet to be cancelled

A notice was sent to Wafa,  who was with Venkitaraman during the accident.  The notice was sent ahead of cancelling the license for frequent violation of traffic rules. 

Venkitaraman had grabbed headlines for his hard work and diligence with respect to his job. Venkitaraman was strictly working against encroachments and had reclaimed some of the properties, and the government was upset with this. This led to his transfer, but there were reports that he was assigned a new role as part of the promotion. 

The government had faced criticisms for transferring the IAS officer, who took stern action again encroachments in Munnar. Following this, the government, including the chief minister, said that he was promoted and transferred and it was not a part of any vindictiveness.