KALPETTA: All accused in the case related to the mob trial and subsequent death of JS Sidharthan, 21, of the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pookode, have been arrested.
On Saturday, seven students were held in the case which is being investigated by a 24-member special investigation team led by Kalpetta DySP T N Sajeev under the supervision of Wayanad District Police Chief T Narayanan. The accused were arrested under IPC sections 306, 323, 324, 341 and 342 and Prohibition of Ragging Act.
All the accused have been nabbed in the probe carried out inside and outside the state by a team led by seven station house officers of Wayanad. J Ajay, 24, of Pathanamthitta, A Althaf, 21, of, Kollam, V Adithyan, 20, of Kozhikode, E K Soud Risal, 21, of Malappuram, Sinjo Johnson, 22, of Kollam, M Muhammad Danish, of Malappuram, 23, and R S Kashinathan, 25, of Kollam were arrested on Saturday.
Ajay, who was hiding in various places in Bengaluru, was caught by a police team led by Sultan Bathery Inspector Baiju K Jose. Althaf was taken into custody by another team led by Padinjarathara Inspector P C Sanjay Kumar from his relative’s house.
K Arun, 23, and Amal Ehsan, 23, of Mananthavady, N Asif Khan, 23, of Thiruvananthapuram, K Akhil, 28, of Palakkad, Rahan Binoy, 20, S D Akash, 22, and R D Sreehari, 23, all residents of Thiruvananthapuram, Idukki resident S Abhishek, 23, Dons Daayi, 23, of Thodupuzha and Sultan Bathery resident Billgates Joshua, 23, were arrested earlier. Ameen Akbar Ali, 25, of Malappuram, surrendered in court on Friday.
Meanwhile, the campus witnessed protests by various organisations. Youth Congress workers marched to the entrance under the leadership of Wayanad District Congress Committee. The police stopped the protesters from crossing the barricade in front of the varsity gate. The march was led by leaders T Siddhique MLA, I C Balakrishnan MLA and DCC president N D Appachan.
Former KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala inaugurated the protest meeting.Overcoming police resistance, the Congress workers protested inside the campus. Muslim Youth League also took out a protest march to the campus.
At the same time, a group of students told media that the incident had no political dimension. Admitting that Sidharthan was subjected to torture, they condemned giving a political dimension to the incident.
Govindan flays governor
CPM state secretary M V Govindan came down heavily on Governor Arif Mohammed Khan for suspending the Vice-Chancellor of Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University. “It shows that the governor will go to any extent. He has been taking an emotional approach to many issues. Most of the decisions taken by him were against Constitution. It’s a move against Left politics. The governor has been acting like an emperor in an autocratic manner,” he said.