Published May 21, 2026 | 7:00 AM ⚊ Updated May 21, 2026 | 7:00 AM
The deceased journalist, KM Basheer (Left), and the accused IAS officer, Sriram Venkitaraman.
Synopsis: The trial in the 2019 death of journalist KM Basheer is set to begin on 1 August in Thiruvananthapuram, nearly seven years after he was fatally hit by a car allegedly driven by IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman. The case has remained contentious due to allegations of drunken driving, delays in medical testing, conflicting accounts over who was behind the wheel, and claims that the initial police investigation had attempted to shield the accused.
Nearly seven years after journalist KM Basheer was killed in a late-night road crash in the heart of the capital city, the criminal trial against IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman — also a medical doctor — is set to begin on 1 August at the Additional District and Sessions Court-IV in Thiruvananthapuram.
The court has scheduled the examination of close to 100 witnesses between 1 August and 10 September.
The first two witnesses are expected to depose on the opening day.
The trial calendar was finalised on Wednesday, 20 May, when the court summoned Venkitaraman, though he did not appear before it.
Also Read: The importance of being Sriram Venkitaraman
Basheer, 35, who served as the Thiruvananthapuram bureau chief of the Malayalam daily, Siraj, died in the early hours of 3 August 2019 after a speeding car, allegedly driven by Venkitaraman, rammed his motorcycle near the Public Office junction near the Museum police station.
He had reportedly stopped by the roadside and was attending a phone call when the collision occurred around 1 am.
CCTV visuals from the Public Office premises had shown the car approaching at high speed from the Vellayambalam side before crashing into the motorcycle, which was thrown against the compound wall.
An injured Basheer was rushed to the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, but could not be saved.
The vehicle involved in the crash was registered in the name of Wafa Firoz, reportedly Venkitaraman’s friend.
She was initially named as the second accused, but the court later removed her from the chargesheet, leaving Venkitaraman as the sole accused in the case.
The prosecution has charged the IAS officer under provisions including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, destruction of evidence, rash and negligent driving and dangerous driving under the Motor Vehicles Act.
The sessions court had framed charges after observing that prima facie evidence existed against the accused and that there were no grounds to discharge him without a full-fledged trial.
The case moved forward after the Supreme Court dismissed Venkitaraman’s appeal challenging the homicide not amounting to murder charge.
The Kerala High Court had earlier restored the culpable homicide charge not amounting to murder after a trial court order had diluted it.
Also Read: Right-wing groups paint Venkitaraman as a devout Brahmin targeted by Muslim fundamentalists
The case drew statewide attention in 2019 amid conflicting versions over who was driving the car at the time of the crash.
Police initially maintained that Firoz had been behind the wheel and that Venkitaraman was riding gunshot. The car, a Volkswagen Vento, reportedly belonged to Firoz.
The police version soon came under scrutiny after eyewitnesses contradicted it.
Autorickshaw drivers Shafeeq and Manikuttan, who claimed to have witnessed the incident, consistently maintained that it was Venkitaraman who drove the vehicle.
Another witness, Joby, told investigators that the occupants of the car — Venkitaraman and Firoz — appeared panicked after the crash and briefly attempted to lift Basheer into the car before abandoning the effort.
Questions were also raised about delays in conducting medical examinations.
Early medical records reportedly noted the smell of alcohol in Venkitaraman’s breath.
Investigators later said blood samples were collected nearly nine hours after the accident. By then, Venkitaraman had been shifted from the General Hospital to a private hospital in the city after allegedly refusing immediate tests.
Subsequent scientific examination did not detect alcohol in the samples.
The prosecution argued that the delay compromised crucial evidence and cited witness testimonies to contend that Venkitaraman was under the influence at the time of the crash.
The defence, however, maintained that the case amounted to an accidental death and repeatedly pointed to the absence of alcohol traces in laboratory reports.
Venkitaraman maintained that he had been suffering from retrograde amnesia — a form of memory loss that the trauma of the accident might have caused.
The investigation was eventually transferred to a Special Investigation Team after allegations surfaced that the initial probe by the Museum Police attempted to shield the accused and tamper with evidence.
Venkitaraman was suspended from service following the incident. He was reinstate in March 2020.
Also Read: SC upholds culpable homicide charge against Venkitaraman
Born in an influential Brahmin family of Kochi and having attained the second rank in the civil service examination in 2013, this medical doctor-turned-civil service officer soon went on leave and opted for a higher education programme in the US.
In 2019, Venkitaraman returned to Kerala, ending his extended leave from service, and the government appointed him the head of the survey department.
On the night of 3 August that year, he turned prime accused in an infamous hit-and-run case in which Basheer was killed.
Venkitaraman was about to take charge as survey director the next day.
His friends had reportedly organised a cocktail party in his honour at a guest house for civil-service officers in the posh Kowdiar region of Thiruvananthapuram.
Venkitaraman was reportedly returning from the party when the deadly incident occurred.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
