Vet student death: Kerala CM orders DGP to constitute SIT to probe case

Thiruvananthapuram/Wayanad, Feb 29 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday directed the state police chief to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the recent death of a student of the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University in Wayanad.

Vijayan also ordered that strict legal action should be taken against the accused in the case, a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said.

Meanwhile, police recorded the arrest of one of the main accused in the case who was caught from Palakkad. This brings the total number of arrests in the case to seven.

Police said it has clues about the whereabouts of the other accused and more arrests could be expected in the coming days.

On Wednesday, six out of the 18 accused in the case were arrested. However, they were not among the 12 main accused, police said.

The death of the student, 20-year-old Siddharthan, on February 18 has stirred up the political waters in the state with the Congress and then the BJP blaming the ruling CPI(M)'s student wing SFI of beating the young man to death.

The Students Federation of India (SFI) has denied the allegations.

Meanwhile, state Law Minister P Rajeev today said the government will take strict action irrespective of the organisation the accused belong to.

Siddharthan, a second year Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry student, was found hanging in his hostel's bathroom on February 18.

Later, his parents claimed that some of his college mates told them that he was beaten to death by some local SFI leaders and activists.

The student's father contended that according to the postmortem report, his son's body had three days' worth of injuries and an empty stomach, which indicated that he was brutally beaten up and not given any food.

Following the claims made by the parents of the student, the Congress and then the BJP alleged that the SFI had beaten him to death.

Based on the parents' claims, the police, which had initially registered a case of unnatural death, booked 12 students for various offences, including abetment of suicide, wrongful restraint and voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means, under the IPC and the Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act.

Later, the number of accused increased to 18. PTI