Nithin Raj death case: Dr Ram remanded after surrendering to Crime Branch

KANNUR: Dr M.K. Ram, the main accused in the case related to the death of dental college student Nithin Raj, surrendered before the Kannur Crime Branch office on Thursday. His surrender came after the Thalassery Special SC/ST Court permitted the Crime Branch to arrest him again.

He was questioned by a team led by Crime Branch SP M.P. Mohanachandran before being taken to the Kannur District Hospital for a medical examination. He was later produced before the court and remanded to judicial custody.

Dr Ram had been taken into custody from Karnataka a day earlier. However, the Thalassery Principal Sessions Court declared the arrest invalid, stating that the Supreme Court's guidelines on arrest procedures had not been followed. After his release, the Crime Branch approached the court seeking permission to arrest him again.

The Kerala High Court had earlier strongly criticised Crime Branch DySP Sudheer Kallan over lapses in the arrest procedure. A bench headed by Justice A. Badharudeen observed that senior police officers appeared to have intervened to protect the accused and directed that the investigating officer be removed from service. The court also termed the incident a complete failure of the administration and said it had not seen such a lapse in the past 15 years.

Following the High Court's observations, the Home Department reorganised the investigation team. The probe was transferred from Kannur Crime Branch SP K.V. Venugopal to Malappuram Crime Branch SP M.P. Mohanachandran.

During questioning, Dr Ram denied mentally harassing Nithin Raj or making casteist remarks against him, police sources said. The fresh investigation is being led by SP Jeevan George under the supervision of Mohanachandran.

Charged under SC/ST Act
Dr Ram, who was the Head of the Oral Pathology Department, has been booked for abetment of suicide and under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Before his death, Nithin Raj had informed his family that he was being mentally harassed by the department head. Following widespread public outrage, the college management dismissed Dr Ram from service.

Court seeks explanation over arrest lapses
Meanwhile, the Thalassery Principal Sessions Court has sought an explanation over the lapses in the arrest of Dr M.K. Ram. The question was raised by Thalassery Principal District and Sessions Court Judge S. Manoj while hearing the prosecution's plea seeking permission to re-arrest Dr Ram.

The court summoned DySP Sudheer Kallan and asked why the Supreme Court's arrest guidelines had not been followed. Kallan told the court that the reason for the arrest had been communicated orally to the accused. The court said it would examine his written explanation before deciding on further action.