The Home department on Monday suspended Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy.SP) Sudheer Kallan over alleged procedural lapses while arresting M.K. Ram, the prime accused in the death of R.L. Nithin Raj, a first-year BDS student of Anjarakkandy Dental College in Kannur. The suspension comes in the wake of criticism by the Kerala High Court last week against the department for failure to suspend the officer. The department will also carry out an internal inquiry into the incident. The court had asked why the Home department was not disciplining an officer whose ‘serious lapse’ in arrest procedures, admitted by the department, had led to the release of Dr. Ram. The court had earlier summoned Mr. Kallan to explain why he had made omissions during the arrest, despite having a service of 22 years. 

The Thalassery Principal District Sessions Court had on July 20 ordered the release of Dr. Ram, the first accused in the abetment to suicide case, after finding procedural lapses in his arrest. The court found that the investigating agency had failed to communicate the grounds of arrest to the accused as required under the Supreme Court guidelines. Dr. Ram is in custody at present after the Crime Branch arrested him a second time, following procedure.