Geetha A, Joint Commissioner of Land Revenue, who has been entrusted with the departmental probe into the death of former Kannur ADM Naveen Babu, collected the statement of District Collector Arun K Vijayan at his office on Saturday. The collection of statements went on for almost an hour.

Arun K Vijayan has told reporters that he didn't organise the farewell event or extend invite to anyone, contradicting former District Panchayat President P P Divya's claim that she was invited to the farewell meeting by the Collector. Arun has also denied reports that he would go on leave. The government has directed Geetha A to submit the report urgently. Earlier, Arun K Vijayan also submitted a report to the state government on the circumstances which led to the death of Naveen Babu.

The probe will look into the sequence of events leading to the loss of life of the former ADM Kannur, including the allegations raised by former District Panchayat President P P Divya against the ADM. The Government has directed Geetha A to ascertain whether Divya has produced any evidence in support of her allegations.

As part of the probe, the official will scrutinize the files related to the issuance of No Objection Certificate and submit her findings based on the file movement, notings, and the time taken in issuance of the NoC for any undue and inordinate delay in comparison to the average time taken for issuance of NoC, according to the order. The file related to issuance of NoC will be examined for evidence or indication of any wrong doing.

The department has directed the official to submit the probe report urgently. The NoC issued by Naveen Babu showed that he had downplayed the curve factor on the road contrary to allegations of P P Divya who blamed him for delaying the NoC for the petrol pump, citing a curve on the road.