Drunken driving: accused suffer from retrograde amnesia

Kerala IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman, who was accused of drunken driving leading to a scribe's death, was having retrograde amnesia, according to a medical bulletin issued by the Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital where he is undergoing treatment.

The bulletin said that retrograde amnesia, a condition in which a person loses memory regarding some events, would be cured in the due course. Apart from retrograde amnesia, all other post-concussion syndromes like headache and vomiting were over. He had also suffered injuries to left wrist and congestion in spinal contusion. He was shifted from the intensive care unit to a high care ward.

Meanwhile, journalists' forums and the management of Malayalam daily 'Siraj', where the deceased scribe worked, were putting pressure on the government to ensure a fair probe and to arraign police officials, including an IPS officer attached to the city police, in the case for charges of sabotaging the case and destroying evidences.