Kerala based newspaper objects to 'tainted' IAS officer becoming Tamil Nadu poll observer

Chennai: The management of Malayalam newspaper Siraj has petitioned the Chief Election Commissioner against appointing Kerala cadre IAS officer, Sriram Venkitaraman as the poll observer in Tamil Nadu.

Sriram Venkitaramanm who is the first accused in a hit and run death case of the Thiruvananthapuram bureau chief of Siraj, KM Basheer has been posted by the Election Commission as poll observer for the Thiru.vi.ka Nagar constituency and Egmore constituency in Chennai. Basheer was run over by a car driven by Venkitaraman at around 1 a.m. on August 4, 2019 in Kerala's capital city.

The 2013 batch IAS officer is charged under IPC sections including murder, destruction of evidence and destruction of public property. The officer was posted overruling the EC's guidelines not to post officers with a tainted background.

"There is a clear violation of EC's manual which states that spotless IAS officers be recommended by the state Chief Secretary and posted as poll observers. However in this case, all these guidelines were violated," said Saifuddin Haji, Director of Siraj newspaper.

The Siraj management has also petitioned the Secretary General in the Election Commission of India, Umesh Sinha, Kerala Chief secretary VP Joy and the Chief Electoral Officer, Kerala, Tikkaram Meena against this.

(From IANS with edits)