‘Man who claimed to have bribed late ADM will be terminated’

PTI Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Monday said the person who raised bribery charges against late Kannur Assistant District Magistrate (ADM) Naveen Babu, would be sacked. Naveen Babu's recent suicide, after a woman CPI(M) leader accused him of corruption during his transfer farewell party at the district collectorate, has triggered a political uproar in Kerala. The minister said Prasanthan T V, working in Pariyaram government medical college in Kannur, would not receive government salary anymore and a legal opinion has been sought to remove him from the service under the health department.

The Additional Chief Secretary would carry out an investigation into the allegations raised by the man. George also made it clear that Prashanthan, who had accused the ADM of accepting bribe from him for granting Non-Objection-Certificate (NOC) for opening a petrol pump, was not a permanent staffer and he was yet to be regularised. "A person like him should not be part of the government service anymore. That is the stand of the Health Department. So, we have decided to initiate the termination procedures after seeking legal advice in this regard," she told reporters here.

The minister further said that Prasanthan is not coming for work since the officer's death. There was no need to expel him from the service as he was not a regular staffer, George added. A visibly emotional minister also recalled ADM Naveen Babu as a sincere and trustworthy officer who did not want to utter a lie. Meanwhile, various outfits staged protests outside Kannur district collectorate over the death of the officer on Monday also. P P Divya, a CPI(M) woman leader, had levelled corruption allegations against Babu at his send-off function. Attending his send-off function uninvited last Monday, Divya criticised Babu for delaying the approval of a petrol pump in Chengalai for several months and remarked that he granted approval only two days after being transferred, hinting that she knew the reasons behind the sudden approval. Amidst the raging row over his death, the Marxist party had removed her as president of the Kannur district panchayat.