Another ‘Harthal’ embarrassment for Kerala BJP, post-mortem report of BJP worker attributes death to high blood pressure

A strike called over the “custodial death” of one of its workers in Kasargode district has landed the Kerala BJP in a soup. The post-mortem report, which came out on Sunday, completely ruled out any kind of torture and attributed the death to high blood pressure, leading to haemorrhage. (Source: Reporter Live)

Sandeep, a BJP worker, was arrested along with his friends on Friday from the paddy fields of the Agriculture Department’s seed farm for consuming liquor in public. There have been several complaints against the group for consuming liquor and abusing the staff at the seed farm.

On seeing the police, Sandeep and four others attempted to flee the place. However, Sandeep fell down while the others were caught. But Sandeep collapsed while being taken to the police station along with others. He was rushed to the general hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead.

However, the BJP called for a strike in the district on Saturday, alleging that he died of torture. The BJP and RSS workers, led by the party’s district president K Shreekanth, picketed the town police station.

But, the post-mortem report said that there were not even marks or any injury on Sandeep’s body. The post-mortem was carried out by a team of six led by the the forensic department head of the Kozhikode Medical College Prasannan. Small bruises were noticed on the toe and the knee. This could have happened when he was running and when he fell down. The report rules out the occurrence of any torture.

Even when the BJP announced the harthal, there were allegations that it was based on a false charge. The BJP’s allegations were also attributed to the party’s displeasure with the Kasargode police sub-inspector Ajith Kumar P. When the allegation of custodial torture was raised, the department responded by transferring him to the Armed Reserve Camp the very next day.

With the revelations in the post-mortem report, the BJP leadership is facing questions for indiscriminate strike calls based on misinformation. Early in February, the party had called a strike in Thrissur district against the murder of Yuva Morcha worker Nirmal, alleging that CPI(M) workers had carried out the murder. However, it was revealed a day later that one of the five accused in the murder was a BJP worker. The murder was a result of personal rivalry.

Earlier this week, 10 RSS workers were arrested for the murder of a 17-year old former RSS worker in Alappuzha district.