CPI-M leader and former Kannur district panchayath president P.P. Divya was questioned by the police for about four hours on Friday, a day after she was arrested in the controversial suicide of Additional District Magistrate Naveen Babu. After the questioning, Divya returned to the jail. Now, she will have to reside in the jail till Tuesday when her bail plea is going to be heard at a Sessions Court in Thalassery.
Divya surrendered before the police and was sent to a jail in Kannur on Thursday after her anticipatory bail plea was rejected. The sequence of events which led to Divya ending up in jail started, when, she despite not being invited, turned up at Naveen Babu’s send-off function on October 14 and made some critical remarks. Naveen Babu committed suicide the very next day (October 15) and following the furore, Divya first resigned as Kannur district panchayath President and was on the run for several days after a case was filed against her on October 17.
Meanwhile, demands are coming from several quarters that the Kannur District Collector Arun Vijayan and a person T.V. Prasanth who said he paid a bribe to Babu to get a sanction for his petrol pump, should also be included as accused, apart from Divya. The wife of Babu, Manjusha and the family are in no mood to relent and have announced they will go to any extent to ensure that they get to know the truth about why Babu had to commit suicide. Congress and BJP have lent her all the support. But what has come as a big surprise is the way the Pathanamthitta district CPI-M committee has been staunchly supporting the family of Babu, while the Kannur district unit of the party is in wait-and-watch mode.
On the other hand, Divya has been getting solid support from her party. CPI-M’s District secretary in Pathanamthitta, K.P. Udayabhanu, said it’s the responsibility of the Kerala government to take appropriate action against the district collector. He also added that the family of Babu has already raised their complaint against the collector. “With regard to action against Divya, it’s an internal matter of the party,” said Udayabhanu.
–IANS
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