The Hindu (Thiruvananthapuram)
Death of veterinary student: 3 more arrested
10 of the 18 accused under custody while seven of them are absconding. Clamour grows for action against university officials for alleged coverup
The Vythiri police arrested three more accused on Friday in connection with the death of J.S. Siddharth, a junior veterinary student of the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pookode, in Wayanad.
The arrested were identified as K. Arun, 24, of Keloth at Kaniyaram, near Mananthavady; Amal Ishan, 23, of Club Kunnu, Mananthavady; and Asif Khan, 23, of Azeef Manzil, Varkala, Kollam.
Arun was the college union president, Amal Ishan was the Students Federation of India unit secretary and Asif Khan was a college union member.
Arun and Amal Ishan surrendered before the police on Thursday night and Asif Khan was arrested from Kollam.
Accused surrenders
The police have arrested 10 of the 18 accused in connection with the incident and seven of them are absconding. Another accused, Ameen Akbar Ali, 25, of Nellikuth at Manjeri in Malappuram surrendered before a local court in Malappuram in the evening.
Meanwhile, the Youth Congress district committee took out a march to the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University headquarters at Pookode on Friday raising a slew of demands, including the arrest of all accused in connection with the death of Siddharth. They also demanded legal action against university officials who they alleged had tried to cover up the incident.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha State president C.R. Praphul Krishnan urged the government to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation as there was likelihood of the police investigation being sabotaged by the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
He also demanded that a case be registered against the college dean, whom he accused of trying to cover up the incident. tain them save violence,” Mr. Khan said, quoting Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
Mr. Khan said SFI activists were aggressors and victims at the same time. The students invariably become accused in police cases. As years pass, they would find it impossible to get police clearance for passports and jobs. They end up staring down a blind alley.
Wake-up call
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said Siddharth’s death was a wakeup call for society to rally against the campus violence perpetrated by the SFI at the behest of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leadership. Block Congress committees would take out torchlight demonstrations across the State on Saturday evening demanding justice for Siddharth. He alleged that SFI leaders had put Siddharth on public trial because he had socialised on campus with a senior female student.
BJP State president K. Surendran accused the CPI (M) of shielding those responsible for Siddharth’s death from prosecution. He attempted to draw an equivalency between the SFI and the Taliban.
Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and MLA Ramesh Chennithala demanded that the government form a special investigation team led by an officer in the rank of Inspector General of Police to probe the case.