Magistrate commits suicide in Kasaragod

He was found dead hanging at his official residence in the court complex at the Vidyanagar locality here around 9.50 a.m.

November 10, 2016 02:46 am | Updated December 02, 2016 02:37 pm IST - KASARAGOD:

V.K. Unnikrishnan

V.K. Unnikrishnan

V.K. Unnikrishnan, 45, Judge at the Judicial First Class Magistrate court here, allegedly committed suicide at his official residence here on Wednesday.

The Karnataka Police on Sunday registered criminal cases against him accusing him of “misbehaving” with an auto driver and later with the police on a visit to Sullia on Sunday. He had accused the police of brutally attacking him at the police station.

He was found dead hanging at his official residence in the court complex at the Vidyanagar locality here around 9.50 a.m., Vidyanagar Circle Inspector Babu Peringath told The Hindu here.

The body would be sent to his native place at Mullacheri in Thrissur after autopsy at Pariyaram Medical College Hospital, Mr. Peringath said.

A relative of Unnikrishnan, who was residing along with the judge, alerted the police on finding the house locked from inside. A police team broke open the house and rushed the judge to a hospital, where he was declared “brought dead”.

Unnikrishnan was assigned to the court here barely six months ago after being transferred from the nearby Kanhangad court. His family members were staying in Thrissur.

The Karnataka Police had accused him of “misbehaving” with the auto driver in an “inebriated condition” following a dispute over fare while travelling from the nearby temple town of Subrahmania along with two “lawyer friends” on Sunday.

Meanwhile, there are reports that Unnikrishnan had been suspended from service by the Registrar of the Kerala High Court following a report by district court judge Manoj Kini that he had left the station without consent.

Reports here said the Sullia police had booked the judge under Indian Penal Code Sections 506, 323, 341, and 504, including those pertaining to obstructing the police from discharging their duty.

The judge, in a complaint filed with the Kasaragod police, maintained that he was robbed of his gold ring, cell phone, besides Rs. 700 in cash. He also maintained that he was forced to consume liquor mixed with soft drink inside the police station.

However, Kasaragod Town Circle Inspector Abdul Rahim said the police did not register a case as the incident was in Sullia.

Unnikrishnan got himself admitted to a private hospital here on Monday.

Sullia police move

Staff Reporter from Mangaluru: The Sullia police will investigate the two cases registered against Unnikrishnan and inform the court about his death at the time of filing the charge-sheet.

Additional Superintendent of Police C.B. Vedamurthy told The Hindu that they would request the jurisdictional court for abatement of the two cases against Unnikrishnan, when they file the charge-sheet.

Mr. Vedamurthy said they were yet to get a reply from the Registrar General of the High Court of Kerala on the email sent by the investigation officer on Sunday seeking directives on how they should proceed with the two cases.

He said the blood samples of Unnikrishnan, taken at the Government Hospital on Sunday to check traces of alcohol consumption, had been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory.

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