ADM Naveen Babu's death: Police submit chargesheet against PP Divya

Kannur: Former Kannur district panchayat president and CPM functionary PP Divya was named the sole accused in the case related to the death of former Kannur ADM Naveen Babu as the investigation team submitted the chargesheet before the first class judicial magistrate court in Kannur on Saturday.
As per the 400-page chargesheet, Babu died by suicide on Oct 15, 2024 after being insulted by Divya at his farewell function in Kannur. The police said the CPM functionary hatched a conspiracy to defame Babu during the farewell meet. For the same, she invited a local channel to the event, collected the visuals of her speech against the ADM from them and circulated them from her mobile phone. The probe team accused Divya of attending the event uninvited.
The investigation team dismissed the murder allegation raised by ADM's wife Manjusha stating that there was no evidence to support the allegations.
Divya had raised corruption charges against Babu in connection with the issuing of a no- objection certificate for a petrol pump. According to the police, she made the allegations at his farewell meet at the collectorate hall. Following the incident, he ended his life by hanging in the bedroom of his official residence on Oct 14, 2024.
The police team had recorded statements of 82 persons including district collector Arun K Vijayan and Babu's family members.
In the chargesheet, the police further stated that there was no evidence against Babu regarding accepting bribe from Prasanthan, who applied for NoC for the petrol pump.
Initially, the police had registered a case of suicide in the death of Babu. Later Divya was listed as accused in the case based on a complaint lodged by the family of the deceased. She was booked for abetment.
Following the case, Divya stepped down as district panchayat president.