Eyewitness in K.M. Basheer death case involving Kerala IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman turns hostile

The sixth prosecution witness in the case relating to the death of journalist K.M. Basheer turned hostile during trial proceedings on Tuesday (August 4, 2026).

The witness, auto-rickshaw driver Shafeeq, testified before the court that he did not know who was driving the car that hit Basheer and that he could not identify the accused, IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman, who stood in the dock.

He also told the court that the driver at the time had a beard and that the person in the dock only appeared to resemble him. He stated that he saw a man and a woman standing at the accident spot.

According to Mr. Shafeeq, the accident occurred because the car was being driven at a high speed. He, however, added that the driver did not appear to be under the influence of alcohol based on his behaviour.

The testimony differed from both his statement to the police and his confidential statement before the magistrate during the investigation. He claimed that he had given his original statement based on what the police had told him then.

The auto-rickshaw driver also told the court that he used to frequently visit the police station to sign a register as he used to operate his vehicle at night in 2019, and thus had developed familiarity with the police. It was under such circumstances that the police made him a witness in the case.

Another eyewitness, Manikuttan, who is also an auto-rickshaw driver, had testified before the court a day ago that Mr. Venkitaraman had driven the car at an excessive speed and was under the influence of alcohol when the accident had taken place.

He stated that while driving his auto-rickshaw around 1 a.m. near Keltron Junction at Vellayambalam, he noticed the car taking the Vellayambalam roundabout at high speed with a loud noise. He added that the car then overtook his vehicle and sped away at a speed of over 100 kmph.

The driver testified that he later saw the vehicle involved in an accident near the Public Office complex and identified Mr. Venkitaraman as the person who was driving the car.