Malappuram: The Crime Branch will investigate the death of Razak Payambrot, allegedly by suicide, which has put the CPM in a spot of bother.

Crime Branch Malappuram DySP K C Babu will head the investigation team. The case has been handed over to the Crime Branch in the wake of the allegations being levelled against the local police in connection with the episode.

Razak, a famed Mappilapattu singer and a CPM supporter, was found hanging in the Pulikkal panchayat office building last Friday.

Earlier, both local residents and Razak’s family had filed multiple complaints that the plastic treatment unit near his Kottappuram Pandiyattupurathu House was processing waste several times beyond its capacity of 100 kilograms per day.

The practice, according to the complainants, caused severe pollution to the local environment and thus created health issues.

When found hanging, there was a bag tied to Razak's neck, which carried a bundle of the complaints he had filed against the unit, along with a suicide note.

Following his death, the CPM, led by its local secretary, erected a party flag and a board in front of the controversial factory unit demanding its closure.

Earlier, Razak had accused the CPM, which governs the panchayat, of not initiating action against the factory, which he believed took his brother’s life.