Union Minister and BJP's Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday, March 25, questioned the action of the Kerala Veterinary University in reinstating the suspended students connected to the death of second-year student Siddharth.
BVSc student Siddharth was found dead in his hostel room at the College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Pookode, Wayanad on February 18. So far, 20 accused, including several SFI activists, have been arrested in connection with the case, and the Vice Chancellor, Dean, and the Assistant Warden of the institute have been placed under suspension.
Following a huge protest from the opposition parties, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on March 9 ordered a CBI probe into the incident but the necessary orders for this are yet to come.
"Although the state government announced that the case would be handed over to the CBI, the case file has not yet been sent to the CBI. The case file could have been transferred to the CBI within 24 hours of the announcement. Moreover, the withdrawal of suspension is an attempt to tamper with evidence and sabotage the case," Minister Chandrasekhar said.
Siddharth's father, Jayaprakash, met the Union Minister at the NDA election committee office on Monday expressing concern over the case and sought his support.
Chandrasekhar said that the initial laxity in the investigation and the reinstatement of the suspended students, who were allegedly involved in the incident, contributed to the mystery.
"It is high time to put an end to gang violence on college campuses in Kerala," said the Union Minister, who is pitted against sitting Congress MP Shashi Tharoor aiming for his fourth straight win and CPI's Paniyan Ravindran of the CPI.