A report by the Land Revenue Commissioner, A Geetha, following a departmental inquiry into the death of former Kannur Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Naveen Babu, has stated that CPI-M leader PP Divya’s presence at his farewell meeting was pre-planned, and the event was recorded at her request.
The report, submitted by the Joint Commissioner of Land Revenue, contradicts Divya’s claim that her attendance was coincidental.
The report found no evidence to support allegations that Naveen Babu accepted a bribe for issuing a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for a petrol pump. It also clarified that there was no delay on his part in granting the NOC for a petrol pump at Chengalai in Kannur.
According to the report, representatives of the local TV channel Kannur Vision testified that Divya had instructed the recording of the farewell meeting and personally received the footage.
The report further states that Divya contacted the Collector’s office four times to finalize the timing of the farewell event. It suggests that the incidents at Naveen Babu’s farewell were part of a pre-planned script rather than a spontaneous occurrence.
The report concludes that PP Divya deliberately attended the farewell meeting uninvited to publicly insult ADM Naveen Babu.
On the morning of October 15, Naveen Babu was found dead at his official residence in Pallikkunnu, Kannur. It is suspected that he died by suicide after facing public humiliation and corruption allegations from PP Divya, who was then the Kannur district panchayat president, during the farewell event on October 14.
Divya had accused him of intentionally delaying the issuance of an NOC to Prasanthan for a petrol pump project in Chengalai.
Naveen Babu’s wife, Manjusha, responded to the report on Saturday, stating that it validates the family’s complaint. She announced that they would approach the Supreme Court for a CBI investigation, expressing distrust in the CPI-M’s handling of the case.
“The report of the Joint Commissioner of Land Revenue is honest. We are relieved that such a report has emerged during this difficult time,” Manjusha said.
Her plea for a CBI probe was previously rejected by both the single bench and the division bench of the Kerala High Court.