SFI stabbing: Knife recovered, Opposition meets Governor

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Police on Friday recovered the knife used in the stabbing of a third-year graduate student here, even as protests continued over the murder and the Governor was urged to intervene in the PSC and collegiate education handling.

Led by Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala a delegation met Governor P. Sathasivam, who is the Chancellor and also the appointing authority of the Public Service Commission. They sought immediate intervention into the admission procedures being followed in government colleges and examinations conducted by the PSC.

This comes after protests raged in the state over the murder of a third-year graduate student Akhil, who was stabbed by SFI activists inside the Thiruvananthapuram's University College, while two others were also injured.

The delegation briefed Sathasivam about the callousness being followed by the PSC and the sorry state of affairs at the way the Collegiate education has been functioning in the state.

"We briefed him that it's mayhem created by the Student Federation of India (SFI) (the student wing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)," Chennithala told the media after the meeting.

"We have sought his immediate intervention to see that the admission procedures in government colleges, the way examinations are being conducted and the functioning of the PSC is looked into," he said.

The Governor has assured the delegates taht he is closely watching the developments on a day-to-day basis, the Congress leader said. He had already expressed his displeasure over the incident.

Chennithala said the opposition's protest will continue till a CBI probe is ordered.

Last week, eight members of the SFI allegedly stabbed a B.A. final year student Akhil to death and injured two others of the University College.

The police have so far arrested five of the accused while three are still at large. Both the prime accused in the case -- Shivaranjith and Nazeem -- are office bearers of the SFI unit in the college. They have secured first and 28th rank in the Public Service Commission (PSC) of the 4th battalion of officers of the Kerala Armed Police (Kasaragod) list.

The PSC has launched an internal probe on the allegations.

On Friday, a police team brought the two arrested students to the college as part of evidence collection, when the knife used in the stabbing was recovered. The arrested have confessed they had bought the knife online.