Kerala ADM suicide case: CPI-M leader Divya gets bail

Kannur, Nov 8 (IANS) A court in Kannur on Friday granted bail to CPI-M leader P. P. Divya in connection with the suicide case of Kannur ADM Naveen Babu.

Counsel for Divya said this was expected as there were guidelines for everything.

"Now when the trial in the case against Divya comes up, we are confident that we will be able to prove that she is innocent. A lot of things have to come out and it will happen when the case will come for trial in the court," said the counsel for Divya.

Reacting to the granting of bail, Naveen Babu's wife Manjusha said she had nothing to add at the moment.

"We will speak to our counsel and decide the future course of action. Later, I will speak to you (media)," said Manjusha.

On Tuesday, the court heard the three parties -- the defence, prosecution and also the family of Babu, and posted the case for final orders for Friday.

Divya has been lodged in the Kannur jail since October 29 after her anticipatory bail plea was rejected, and she surrendered before the police probe team.

On Tuesday Divya's counsel said she was innocent and had done no wrong trying to establish that Babu had taken a bribe, which was strongly opposed.

The roles of Kannur District Collector Arun Vijayan and T. V. Prasanth, who said he paid a bribe to Babu to get a sanction for his petrol pump, were also raised.

In between, on November 1, she was questioned by the police for about four hours.

The sequence of events that led to Divya ending up in jail began, when she, despite not being invited, turned up at Babu's send-off function on October 14 and made some critical remarks.

When this incident occurred, Kannur District Collector Arun Vijayan who was presiding over the function, kept mum and did not make any statement after the "uninvited" Divya walked out, making curt remarks against Babu.

Babu died by suicide the very next day (October 15) and following the furore, Divya first resigned as Kannur district panchayath President.

She was on the run for several days after a case was filed against her on October 17.

Relief for Divya came a day after the CPI-M's Kannur unit decided to strip Divya of all party posts and was demoted from the Kannur district committee member to her local branch committee.

Divya's counsel said they are hopeful that she will be able to come out of jail later in the day.

--IANS

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