Kin demand CBI probe into death of ‘whistleblower’

Jayaraman was a data entry operator in the examination section of the university till recently. He had exposed the malpractices in his department last December. According to his findings, there were discrepancies between the marks awarded and those entered in certain cases. However, being a lower-level contract employee, he did not have the power to verify the marksheets in original, and reported the incident to his seniors. When the university set up an inquiry panel, many were shocked to find Jayaraman’s name among the accused.

“The marks were altered only for engineering and medical streams, where the amount is said to run into lakhs of rupees,” said a varsity insider.

Despaired by this attitude, Jayaram tried to commit suicide on February 17 by consuming tablets. But his life was saved, as he was given medical aid in time. Two officials were suspended the same day, though university employees alleged that the decision to suspend the two was taken only after he was admitted to the hospital, following his suicide attempt.

On April 24, he was reportedly threatened by an unknown person inside the varsity, asking him to withdraw his allegations during the next hearing of the panel. His relatives said Jayaraman had also received threatening calls and letters and had filed a police complaint.

On Monday, he went out in the evening to the family farm nearby, but did not return. On Tuesday, Sivaraman, his elder brother, went out in search of him and found his footwear and cycle. This aroused Sivaraman’s suspicion. Soon, they found Jayaraman’s body. The fasteners used to strangulate him are of the kind usually used to bind plastic wheel disks to the rim of cars.