The Crime Branch wing of Kerala has arrested Dr. M. Kodanda Ram, the prime accused in the abetment of suicide case related to the death of first-year BDS student R. L. Nithin Raj of Kannur Dental College, Anjarakandy, Kerala, from Kodagu, Karnataka, following the rejection of his anticipatory bail pleas by both the Kerala High Court and the Supreme Court. Dr. Ram is a former Head of the Dental Anatomy Department at the college.
Dr. Ram had been absconding for three months before being tracked down via phone records and apprehended in Karnataka on July 19, 2026. He was brought to the Crime Branch office in Kannur and will be produced before the court after completing legal formalities.
The case involves the suspected suicide of Nithin Raj, a student from the Scheduled Caste community at Kannur Dental College, Anjarakandy, who died after falling from a campus building on April 10. Investigators allege that Dr. Ram had previously insulted and intimidated Raj in class. While tracking Ram, Crime Branch officials discovered he had fled his native home in Andhra Pradesh for Bengaluru. Further tracking located him hiding in Kodagu, Karnataka, where he was arrested on Sunday night and taken to the Kannur Crime Branch office for interrogation
Dr. Ram faces charges of abetment of suicide under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and offences under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The victim’s family and an audio clip left by Nithin revealed persistent caste-based discrimination, colour-based insults, public humiliation in front of peers, and threats regarding internal marks.
In denying bail on July 13, 2026, the Supreme Court observed that a strong message must be sent that teachers cannot behave with students in a manner that humiliates them.
A second accused, Dr. Sangeetha Nambiar, previously secured anticipatory bail from a court in Kannur. Concurrently, the Crime Branch is investigating an online lending firm where Raj reportedly borrowed money, leading to the arrest of four individuals in Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi last month.