KANNUR: Dramatic scenes unfolded on the Thalassery Principal District and Sessions Court premises on Monday after M K Ram, 53, the first accused in the death of Anjarakandy Dental College student Nithin Raj R L, was whisked away by crime branch officials shortly after he was relased by the court, before being let go again.
His lawyer Latheef B claimed that Ram, the former head of the college’s dental anatomy department, was taken into custody while leaving the court. Crime branch officials rejected the allegation.
“We did not take M K Ram into custody. We called him to issue a notice. However, he was unable to receive the same at that time, and he immediately left saying he would return to collect it later,” a Kannur crime branch official said.
Earlier in the day, the court had ordered Ram’s release. Latheef said the judge released Ram after pointing out that the grounds of arrest were not communicated.
“We raised a question based on the recent Supreme Court judgment stating that grounds of arrest as per Article 22 should be communicated to the arrested person, but here the police did not completely comply,” he said.
Ram was taken into custody by the Kannur crime branch from Coorg in Karnataka on July 19 in connection with the death of Nithin, 22, a native of Puthukulangara in Thiruvananthapuram, who ended his life on April 10 after jumping off a building of the private dental college. The incident had sparked widespread protests across the state.