Trigger warning: The following article has references to suicide. Please avoid reading if you feel distressed by the subject.
At 6:15 a.m. on October 15, 2024, M. Shamsudeen, a driver at the Kannur District Collectorate, received an unusual call. The person at the other end was the confidential assistant to the outgoing Additional District Magistrate (ADM), K. Naveen Babu. He asked Shamsudeen to check if Babu was at his official house at Pallikunnu, 15 minutes away from the District Collectorate in northern Kerala.
The previous evening, the Revenue Staff Council had thrown a farewell party for Babu, 55. He was to then leave Kannur and reach Pathanamthitta, his native district, nearly 400 km away, early on October 15 to take charge as ADM for the remaining seven months of his service. But when Babu’s wife, Manjusha, reached the Chengannur railway station, close to their home, along with their daughters at 4 a.m., they did not find him. They asked the railway police, who informed them that Babu had not boarded the train. Unable to contact him, the anxious family dialled Babu’s confidential assistant.
Shamsudeen says the drive to Pallikunnu was probably the longest and the most difficult in his 13 years as a driver. He was filled with a sense of foreboding given the time of the call and the confidential assistant’s strange and urgent ask.
On reaching the house, Shamsudeen found the door slightly ajar. He heard Babu’s phone ringing incessantly inside. Alarmed, he did not enter the house. Instead, he called a neighbour, Ranjith, for assistance. Ranjith was equally scared. The two of them contacted the ADM’s gunman for help. When all of them entered the house, they found Babu dead. He was still dressed in the clothes he had worn for his farewell the previous evening.
A farewell that took an unexpected turn
On October 14, as people milled around and chatted with one another at Babu’s farewell, the District Panchayat President, P.P. Divya, landed at the venue. In an unexpected turn of events, Divya, a district committee member of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist), publicly rebuked Babu for allegedly delaying the issuance of a no-objection certificate for a fuel station in Chengalai, a village in Kannur. She announced that she would have more to say on the subject in two days and walked out in a huff.
“The atmosphere in the room shifted dramatically,” recalled M.K. Ashwin, a member of the Revenue Staff Council that had organised the event. “We had not invited her, but she came and made these allegations. We were taken aback.”
There were some camera persons at the farewell. A journalist, who claimed he had been invited by Divya to the function, said he was shocked. “I was there to cover the farewell. Suddenly, she accused him of corruption,” he said.
After the event, Shamsudeen said he dropped off Babu at the Muneeswaram temple near the railway station. Instead of waiting for the ADM, who was scheduled to take the 8.30 p.m. train, Shamsudeen left as he was instructed. Babu had allegedly told him that he was going to meet someone from Kasaragod. “He often did that,” Shamsudeen said. He remembered Babu “looking happy” — the officer had returned from a family trip to Trichy in Tamil Nadu just days earlier and was excited to be going home to Pathanamthitta. He had packed all his belongings.
Ranjith, who described Babu as “soft-spoken and approachable”, also said the ADM “was excited about returning to his native place.”
Accusations of corruption
After Babu’s death, T.V. Prashanth, a contractual electrician at the Kannur Medical College Hospital, who had sought the no-objection certificate for the petrol pump, also echoed Divya’s allegations. “I had been trying to obtain the no-objection certificate for six months,” said Prashanth. “Each time I visited him, I was told to wait. On October 6, he called me and demanded ₹1 lakh.”
He claimed that Babu had summoned him to his house and demanded the bribe and had also threatened to cancel the application if Prashanth refused his demand. Prashanth said he managed to finally rustle up ₹98,500 and received the no-objection certificate. He said he informed Divya about the situation and even sent a complaint to the Chief Minister via WhatsApp.
Also read | CPI(M) calls Kannur ADM’s death unfortunate, criticises district panchayat president’s remarks
However, his “revelation” raised more questions than answers. His signatures in documents that are in the public domain — the no-objection certificate he received and his complaint to the Chief Minister — are significantly different. The Health Department for which he works has initiated an inquiry against him. Meanwhile, the Congress had demanded to know who was funding Prashanth’s proposed fuel station.
The postmortem results confirmed the cause of Babu’s death as suicide. District Police Chief Ajith Kumar clarified that no note or incriminating evidence had been found at the scene.
The incident sparked outrage across political lines. The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have demanded Divya’s resignation and arrest. They have accused her of abetting the suicide. With by-elections to two Assembly segments and a Lok Sabha constituency scheduled to take place in less than a month, the Opposition has converted Babu’s death into an election issue, posing tough questions to the CPI(M).
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan consoles Babu’s family.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled Babu’s death and expressed solidarity with “honest government officials”. The Opposition has questioned the fairness of the probe against Divya, as she is still a district committee member of the CPI(M). Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President, K. Sudhakaran, has accused the Chief Minister’s Office of protecting Divya and has demanded a judicial probe into Babu’s death.
Praveen Babu, Naveen Babu’s brother, lodged a complaint with the Kannur town police, demanding action against Divya. While the reasons for suicide are often multi-faceted, influenced by social, cultural, biological, psychological, and environmental factors, Praveen said, “Her accusations have tarnished my brother’s reputation and could have pushed him over the edge.”
On October 17, at Babu’s funeral, Divya S. Iyer, Managing Director of the Vizhinjam International Seaport, who had collaborated with him when she was District Collector of Pathanamthitta, described him as an “honest and a committed official” who had worked for the welfare of the people. “He was deeply respected. It is the thought that we couldn’t help him during this crisis that makes it all the more painful,” she said.
Mahila Morcha workers protest in front of the Kannur Town Police station, demanding the arrest of the former District Panchayath president, P.P. Divya.
| Photo Credit:
Mohan S.K.
A divided CPI(M)
On October 17, the police registered a case against Divya for abetment of suicide under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. This is a non-bailable offence that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. The CPI(M) immediately removed Divya from the position of District Panchayat President.
As violent protests erupted on the streets against her, Divya went into hiding. The next day, she sought anticipatory bail from the District Principal Sessions Court in Thalassery. Her counsel presented her as a crusader against corruption and reiterated her charges against Babu. The court is set to pronounce its order on October 29.
Divya also issued a statement the same day. She wrote, “I am extremely pained at the death of Naveen Babu. I will cooperate with the police probe and will legally prove my innocence. I had made a well-intentioned statement against corruption, and I attest to the party’s stand that certain portions in my comments should have been avoided.” She agreed with the CPI(M)’s decision that she should step down as District Panchayat President during the investigation, and submitted her resignation. On October 25, a special investigation team, led by Ajith Kumar, took over the probe into Babu’s death.
The incident has revealed the differences in the CPI(M). The party’s Pathanamthitta district committee made terse remarks against Divya. Soon after, M.V. Govindan, CPI(M) State secretary, toed the line. K.P. Udayabhanu, the district secretary said, “She (Divya) should have avoided making public allegations that might have driven the officer to take such a drastic step.” Soon after this statement, Govindan visited Babu’s family and assured them of the CPI(M)’s support. “Whether it is Kannur, Pathanamthitta, or anywhere else in Kerala, the party stands united with the family. We will fully support whatever actions are necessary for the investigation,” he said.
While the State leadership of the CPI(M)’s youth wing, the Democratic Youth Federation of India, said that there was no reason to doubt the complaint raised by Divya, the CPI(M) leadership in Pathanamthitta, which has stood by Babu’s family throughout the episode, rejected its stance. Complicating the matter further, Malayalapuzha Mohanan, a CPI(M) area committee member and State committee member of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, the party’s trade union wing, alleged that there was a conspiracy behind Babu’s farewell. He declared that he would end his public life “if anyone could prove that Naveen Babu accepted even ₹10 as bribe.”
To quell murmurs in the public that there was anger brewing in the party, Udayabhanu asserted that the CPI(M) had one clear stand. “We stand with Babu’s family,” he said. “Divya has been removed from her post, and a case for abetment of suicide has been filed against her. The District Collector will not oversee the investigation. Both the government and the party will take appropriate action against Divya.” He also criticised Divya for involving the media in what was meant to be a private function, adding that the CPI(M) State leadership would decide the next step.
Who invited Divya?
While the Revenue Staff Council members, who held the farewell function, maintained that they did not invite Divya, she claimed in her bail application that she had been invited by the District Collector, Arun K. Vijayan.
The Collector, who was present at the farewell, denied this claim. He stressed that he had not communicated with either Divya or Babu after the event. During questioning by the police at his residence on October 22, Vijayan reiterated his stance and denied any wrongdoing on his part.
Also read | Kannur ADM death: Collector Arun K. Vijayan denies inviting P.P. Divya to Naveen Babu’s farewell event
The day after Babu’s death, angry revenue officials across the State wore black badges to work as a sign of protest. The District Collector, Vijayan, was also forced to stay away from some public events for a few days, fearing outrage.
Members of the Kerala Non-Gazetted Officers Association, affiliated to the Congress, staged a protest march to the District Collector’s office demanding a thorough investigation. “We asked the Collector the reason for his silence when Divya levelled the allegations and also the reasons for inviting her to the event,” said Rajesh Khanna, State vice president of the association.
Colleagues and the public at the funeral procession of M. Naveen Babu at Pathanamthitta.
| Photo Credit:
Leju Kamal
Praveen Babu said, “If Divya thought Naveen was corrupt, she should have addressed it before instead of calling a press conference to humiliate him at his farewell. We have our doubts. We need to understand whether there was a conspiracy behind Divya arriving at the event uninvited and making such serious accusations against an officer who had an unblemished record.”
While admitting that the family got some relief when Divya stepped down from the post of District Panchyat President, Praveen Babu said it was simply not enough. “We believe that removing someone in a position of power limits their ability [to influence the investigation], but we will only find peace if a fair inquiry is conducted and those responsible are punished. What we seek is complete truth and justice,” he said.
An inter-departmental inquiry has also been initiated into the circumstances surrounding Babu’s death. The inquiry, by Land Revenue Joint Commissioner A. Geetha, has resulted in a report that has been submitted to the Revenue Department Principal Secretary, Tinku Biswal.
“I have not yet received the report, but I expect it soon along with a note from the Principal Secretary. I will then forward it to the Chief Minister and the criminal investigation team handling the case,” said Revenue Minister K. Rajan.
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Published – October 26, 2024 04:30 am IST
