CPM leader P P Divya denied bail in suicide abetment case; deceased ADM's family seeks her arrest

Principal District and Sessions Judge, Thalassery, K T Nissar Ahammed, issued the order rejecting the plea filed by Divya, who is the former president of the Kannur district panchayat.

Thiruvananthapuram: A local court in Kannur district of Kerala on Tuesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of CPM leader P P Divya who is accused of abetting the suicide of additional district magistrate Naveen Babu.

The court order came amidst strong criticism that the police were deliberately delaying her arrest owing to political pressure.

Reacting to the verdict, Babu's wife Manjusha demanded that Divya should be arrested. "The one who destroyed our family should be arrested, " she said.

Babu was found hanging in his official residence in Kannur on October 15, a day after he was snubbed by Divya, who was the then Kannur district panchayat president, during his sent off function. She accused Babu of deliberately delaying a petrol pump application for getting illegal gratification.

Manjusha, who is reacting to the media for the first time after Babu's death, strongly criticised Divya for snubbing Babu during his sent off function. She also said that on the night before his death Babu had spoken to her over phone and he was very upset over the baseless allegations levelled against him.

"That was not the venue to blame an officer. The district collector could have arranged another venue for her to raise the issue, " said Manjusha, who is also a state revenue service officer.

A section of CPM leaders of Kannur were allegedly trying to protect Divya and arranging a hideout to her even when party state leadership was reiterating that the party would remain with Babu's family. Babu also hailed from a traditional CPM family and the CPM leaders of his home district Pathanamthitta are strongly backing the family

Attending his send-off function allegedly uninvited on 14 October, Divya had 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.

The following day, Babu was found dead at his quarters in Kannur.