Kerala journalist killed after ‘drunk’ IAS officer Sriram Venkataraman’s car rams into bike

A journalist was killed in a road accident in Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram late last night when a car driven allegedly by an IAS officer rammed his motorcycle, killing him on the spot. The IAS officer, Sreeram Venkitaraman, has been arrested.

K Muhammed Basheer, 35, was the Thiruvananthapuram bureau chief of Malayalam daily Siraj. The incident took place at around 1 am in the heart of the city when he was returning home from work, the police said.

Apart from Mr Venkitaraman, a woman was also in the blue Volkswagen, the police said. "There were conflicting statements. We have now confirmed from independent witnesses that Sreeram Venkitaraman was driving the vehicle," Thiruvananthapuram police chief Dhinendra Kashyap told news agency PTI.