Activist Girish Babu who filed plea against Kerala CM's daughter found dead, cardiac arrest suspected

Several public interest petitions filed by him have created a political stir in Kerala. The cases, including the Palarivattom flyover scam and the 'monthly payments' allegations against Veena Vijayan.

                                                                   Activist Girish Babu

KOCHI: Activist Girish Babu (47) was found dead in his home in Kalamassery on Monday morning.

According to the police, the preliminary investigation behind the death suggests he died after a cardiac arrest. Girish was undergoing treatment for health-related issues, which he also published through a Facebook post last month. The police reached Girish’s house and started the inquest proceedings.

Girish has been living with his family in Kalamassery and it was his wife who found him dead in the bedroom this morning, police said. “It seems like a case of cardiac arrest. However, we can reach a final conclusion only based on the autopsy report,” said a police officer.

Several public interest petitions filed by Girish have created a political stir in Kerala. The cases, including the Palarivattom flyover scam and the ‘monthly payments’ allegations against Veena Vijayan, daughter of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, hogged headlines recently.

He moved to the Vigilance Court in Muvattupuzha, seeking an investigation into the alleged bribe paid by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd. (CMRL) to Veena Vijayan. However, the court rejected the petition recently. Following this, he moved the High Court to hear the case. Girish’s death came while the court was about to consider his petition today.

Girish, who sought the probe citing revelations by the Income Tax Interim Board of Settlement (ITIBS), New Delhi, named the CM, and UDF leaders Ramesh Chennithala, P K Kunhalikutty, and V K Ebrahimkunju in the petition, claiming they, too, received bribes from CMRL. Veena’s company, Exalogic Solutions, CMRL, its MD S N Sasidharan Kartha, chief financial officer K S Suresh Kumar, chief general manager P Suresh Kumar, and cashier K M Vasudevan were also been named in the plea