Kerala: Dental college HOD arrested in Kannur student suicide case

KANNUR: The Crime Branch probing the alleged suicide of a student at a private dental college in Kannur arrested the head of the Dental Anatomy Department, the prime accused in the case, from Kodagu in Karnataka, officials said on Monday.

The arrested accused was identified as M Kondanda Ram, a native of Chittur in Andhra Pradesh. He was taken into custody after the Supreme Court dismissed his anticipatory bail plea on July 13. The victim, Nithin Raj, a student of the private dental college at Anjarakandy, was found dead on April 10 after falling from a building on the college campus in a suspected suicide .

According to the investigation, Raj, belonging to the Scheduled Caste community, was insulted and intimidated by Ram in the classroom. Crime Branch officials said a team that recently reached Ram's native place in Andhra Pradesh found that he had shifted to Bengaluru.

Further investigation revealed that he was hiding at a location in Kodagu, Karnataka. He was taken into custody from the hideout on Sunday night and brought to the Crime Branch office in Kannur, where he is being interrogated, officials said.

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Kerala dental student suicide case accused was hiding: Crime branch SP

Addressing reporters, Crime Branch SP K V Venugopal said Ram was formally arrested at the Crime Branch office in Kannur at 7.20 am on Monday after being taken into custody by the investigating team .

"The accused is being interrogated in detail. After completing the legal formalities and medical examination, he will be produced before the court today itself," he said.

Asked where the accused had been hiding, the officer said Ram had informed investigators that he had stayed at various places in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

"As these are matters connected with the investigation, we cannot reveal further details at this stage," he said. Venugopal said a special investigation team was constituted immediately after the Supreme Court rejected Ram's anticipatory bail plea and that the same team tracked him down and arrested him.

Asked whether the accused had received political or local support while absconding, the SP said all such aspects were being examined as part of the investigation but declined to elaborate further. "We are conducting a thorough investigation into every aspect of the case," he said.

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An online lending firm part of Kannu's dental student death

Ram and another faculty member, Dr Sangeetha Nambiar, have been booked for allegedly abetting Raj's suicide. Nambiar, however, had earlier secured anticipatory bail from a court in Kannur. The Crime Branch is also investigating the role of an online lending firm from which Raj had borrowed money.

As part of the probe, four persons were arrested from Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi last month. Meanwhile, the Kerala Home Department on Monday decided to constitute a fresh investigation team to probe the case.

According to officials, the probe will be headed by Inspector General of Police Ajeetha Begum, who will constitute the new investigation team. The decision came after Raj's father, K L Rajan, and other family members recently met Chief Minister VD Satheesan and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, expressing dissatisfaction with the ongoing investigation and seeking a comprehensive probe.

Reacting to the development, Rajan said the arrest of Dr M K Ram alone was not sufficient and demanded that the role of others also be investigated. "My son's death was not a suicide but a murder. We are not satisfied with the present investigation. The arrest should not be confined to Ram alone," he told reporters. He also sought a probe into the alleged involvement of other teachers at the dental college.