Kerala CM orders CBI inquiry into death of veterinary student

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], March 9 (ANI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the death of J S Sidharthan, a second-year veterinary student, after his family met him at his office.

Opposition parties and the father of the student had blamed the Student Federation of India (SFI) for the death of the student.

“The Chief Minister has ordered CBI enquiry into the death of Sidharthan, the second-year veterinary student in Pookkode after his family met CM at his office,” an official release said on Saturday.

Sidharthan was a student of Government Veterinary College, Pookkode in the state. According to police, he was found hanging in his hostel room on February 18.

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan had suspended Vice Chancellor of the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University Dr MR Saseendranath in connection with the death of the veterinary student.

On March 1, T Jayaprakash, the father of the veterinary student, alleged that the death of his son seemed to be a “murder sponsored by the leaders and workers of the SFI.”

Talking to ANI, Jayaprakash said that one of the friends of Sidharthan informed him that the death of his son was “a well-planned murder” and that “brutal ragging” is regular in the college.

Sidharthan’s relatives told reporters that he was brutally attacked by a group of students inside the campus and it “is a case of murder and not suicide”.

Kerala Police had arrested six people in connection with the death of the student.

Following the government’s decision for a CBI probe, opposition parties ended their protest Mahila Congress president Jebi Mather, Youth Congress president Rahul Mamkootathil and KSU state President Aloshious Xavier were among those who were protesting over their demand for a CBI probe.