SFI student activist murdered in Kerala's Idukki gets cremated in his hometown in Kannur

The ruling CPI(M) had alleged that the murder was pre-planned and claimed that 21 Left workers were killed in the state in the last six years
Image of SFI activists protesting Dheeraj's death | Pic: Specially arranged
Image of SFI activists protesting Dheeraj's death | Pic: Specially arranged

The body of Engineering student Dheeraj Rajendran, a Students' Federation of India (SFI) activist, who was allegedly murdered by political opponents, has been cremated in Taliparamba, in Kerala's Kannur district, on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday. Dheeraj (21) was a seventh-semester engineering student at the Government Engineering College in Idukki. 

The funeral procession started from Idukki on Tuesday afternoon after a public homage took place at his college and then at the CPI(M) Idukki district committee office. Thousands of people, on the way to Taliparamba, were waiting to pay homage to him. After his parents and relatives completed the final rites at his home, his body was cremated at around 2 am in a land adjacent to his house which was purchased by CPI(M) after the incident. A monument will soon be erected in memory of Dheeraj on the same land as he was cremated. He was allegedly stabbed to death on January 10 in Idukki in a clash related to the college union election. 

Two Youth Congress workers, Nikhil Paily and  Jerin Jijo, were arrested on January 11 in connection to his murder. Another student of the college, who is also the unit secretary of Congress-affiliated Kerala Students Union, Alex Rafel has been taken into custody. Idukki SP R Karuppasamy had told news agency PTI, " "We need to take more people into custody in order to look into the conspiracy angle behind the crime. The first two accused are not students of the college. We need to find out why they reached there with weapons."

While the ruling CPI(M) had alleged that the murder was pre-planned and claimed that 21 Left workers have been killed in the state in the last six years. State Congress Chief K Sudhakaran said that his party will never support any sort of violence.
 

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