Wayanad: The Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) here on Friday debarred 19 students including SFI leaders from continuing their studies in any of the registered educational institutions in India over the ragging of a second-year student Sidharthan who was found dead inside his hostel room. KVASU anti-ragging committee took action against these students after police named them as accused in the suicide of Sidharthan.

Twenty-year-old Sidharthan from Thiruvananthapuram's Nedumnagad, a second-year student of the Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, was found hanging in his hostel bathroom on February 18.

Four arrests were made by police on Friday in connection with the recent death of a student of the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University in Wayanad, with the Congress and BJP accusing the ruling party CPM's student wing SFI of beating him to death. Among the four accused Malappuram native Ameen Ali Akbar, SFI college union president K Arun and unit secretary Amal Ihsan surrendered before police, while the probe team nabbed union member Asif Khan from his residence at Varkala. With this, the total number of arrests in the case has reached 11. Of the 11, five are among the 12 main accused in the case and the remaining are still absconding, police said.

Though police had initially registered a case of unnatural death, had later booked 12 students for various offences, including abetment of suicide, wrongful restraint and voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means, under the IPC and the Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act. Later, the number of accused increased to 18.

Sidharthan's parents have claimed that some of his collegemates told them that he was beaten to death by some local SFI leaders and activists. The father contended that according to the postmortem report, his son's body had three days' worth of injuries and an empty stomach, which indicated that he was brutally beaten up and not given any food.

(With PTI inputs)