KALPETTA: Two officers, who were under suspension over the death of J S Siddharth (20), a second-year student of Pookode Veterinary College, have been reinstated. Former dean M K Narayanan and former assistant warden Kanthanathan have been reinstated into service following the end of the six-month suspension period. The two have been appointed at Thiruvazhamkunnu College of Avian Sciences and Management.

Vice chancellor K S Anil and others demanded exemplary punishment for both of them based on judicial commission’s report but majority of the members of the management council opposed this. Chancellor Arif Muhammad Khan also demanded further action against them. A decision was taken in yesterday’s meeting convened to reinstate the two as their suspension period ended. Dr Kanthanathan had approached the high court requesting that no further action should be taken on the Chancellor's report. This is not yet settled. The decision of the management council is to take the rest of the action after knowing high court’s stand.

Siddharth was found hanging in the washroom of the college hostel in February this year. The suspension showed that despite being on campus, the dean did not know about the mob trial and there was lapse from the side of Kanthanathan, who was in charge of the hostel.

The two were suspended clarifying that if both of them continue to work, the investigation of the case will be affected and it is a serious mistake to say that they were not aware of the incident that happened in the hostel. However, the explanation given by dean M K Narayanan was that there was no lapse in the incident and he intervened in the matter after knowing about Siddharth's death.