Why Prasanth’s brother-in-law is a person of interest in this case

Kasaragod: Kannur city police, investigating the suicide of Kannur additional district magistrate Naveen Babu K, on ​​Friday questioned AK Rajeesh, brother-in-law of TV Prashanth, who accused the late official of accepting bribe to issue no-objection certificate (NoC) for his petrol pump. Rajeesh (44), a native of Thimiri in Alakode panchayat in Kannur, had earlier filed multiple complaints against the then ADM Kasaragod Devidas N, alleging that he had taken bribe to grant NoC for the fuel outlet. The complaint was similar to the one Prasanth allegedly filed with the Prime Minister against Naveen Babu.

According to revenue and police officials, Rajeesh also runs an unlicensed Bharat Petroleum filling station in Kasaragod district. The outlet called AK Group Fuels Pumps is located at Odayamchal on the Kanhangad-Panathur State Highway in Kasaragod. The license to operate a filling station issued by the panchayat expired on March 31, 2022, said the deputy secretary of the Kodom-Belur gram panchayat, a CPM stronghold. “The panchayat sent notices to the petrol station but did not even apply for an extension,” the official said.

The Panchayat authorities did not take any steps to terminate the operation even though they were aware that the establishment was operating without the mandatory business license. The police conducted a discreet inventory of Rajeesha’s gas station after Naveen Babu took his own life on October 15, 2023. “We found that they had reported to the supervisor that the filling station did not have a working toilet or panchayat permission,” a police official said.

In 2018, Rajeesh had lodged a complaint against the then ADM of Kasaragod, Devidas N, accusing him of accepting bribe to issue NOC for Hindustan Petroleum filling station at Parappally, on the same state highway, 9.3 km from his own pump in Odayanchal. In his complaint, Rajeesh stated that there was government land between the highway and the plot where the proposed filling station was to be built. He also alleged that the plot was originally allotted to a member of the Scheduled Tribe community and could not legally be used for commercial purposes, and lodged another complaint with the Kerala State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

When these allegations surfaced, Devidas was on the verge of being awarded IAS. The complaint almost cost him promotion as an IAS officer.

“The government must send its recommendations. I can’t say if the complaints were the reason for the delay, but it could be the reason,” Devidas, who is currently Kollam Collector, told Onmanorama. Devidas handed over the NoC to the Hindustan Petroleum filling station on the condition that it would lease government land to provide access to the road. “NoC became NoC only when the condition was met,” he said.

Officials said the period for blocking or prohibiting the use of land allocated to tribal members for commercial purposes is 12 years. They claim that since this particular plot was allotted in the 1980s, the lockdown period has long passed. “Moreover, the subcontractor’s job was to check the nature of the land,” the official said. The government initiated an investigation into Rajeesh’s complaints and absolved Devidas of all charges.

He was awarded IAS in 2021 from the select list of 2018. As per the affidavit filed by Rajeesh in the Kerala High Court in 2010, he is also a dealer of Hindustan Petroleum. On October 5, 2010, he moved the Supreme Court challenging Hindustan Petroleum’s notification granting a new retail outlet near its petrol station. Five years later, on May 28, 2015, Justice K Vinod Chandran dismissed the petition, saying it had no locus standi or legal right to take the suit to court.

Many phone calls to Rajeesh went unanswered. He also did not respond to questions sent to his WhatsApp number. Onmanorma asked him why the police considered him a person of interest in the investigation into ADM’s death; if he was an investor in a gas station in Prashanthan; and why he did not renew the license of his gas station in Kasaragod.

A DYFI leader in Odayanchal said there were also drainage problems in front of the filling station. “Rajeesh often claimed to be a friend of ‘mash’ Govindan’s family and told us to contact him if we needed to do anything,” the leader said, referring to CPM state secretary MV Govindan. When asked if Rajeesh had simply dropped his name, the DYFI leader insisted otherwise. “They are actually family friends,” he said.

This was also confirmed by a senior official of the Kasaragod Collector. “Rajeesh’s mother is the leader of the CPM women’s wing and is close to Govindan,” he said. Police booked former Kannur district panchayat president PP Divya for abetting Naveen Babu’s suicide after suggesting that he took bribes to issue NoC for petrol pumps. She then resigned and approached the court for anticipatory bail. Soon after Naveen’s death, Babu Prashanthan publicly stated that he had donated Rs 98,500 to NoC to ADM. In his statement, he maintained the allegations against the police.