Rajkot: Five MBBS students who were arrested and sent to judicial custody in connection with the suicide of final-year student Ratan Kumar Meghwal appeared for their final-year exams on Monday, under heavy police escort.Ratan Kumar Meghwal, 26, allegedly committed suicide early on Saturday by jumping in front of a train near the Ghanteshwar railway track in the Gandhigram police station area. His father later lodged a complaint against five of his son’s classmates, who were booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 108 (abetment of suicide) and under the Atrocities Act. The accused — Pranav Paliwal, Asmit Sharma, Ayush Yadav, Nirvighnam Noor and Yuvraj Chaudhary — were arrested and produced in court on Sunday. As police did not seek custodial interrogation, the court sent them to judicial custody. The students sought permission to take their final-year exams, which began on Monday, and the court granted the request. Investigating officer Chintan Patel said, “Adhering to the court’s order, all the students were transported from Rajkot Central Jail to the exam venue under police escort. They were returned to jail immediately after the exam.” According to sources, their written exams will continue until March 28, with practicals to begin after March 30. The investigation into the suicide is ongoing. Police seized the mobile phones of all the accused on Sunday for forensic analysis. Statements of classmates and faculty members at AIIMS Hospital are yet to be recorded. Sources said that if the police or AIIMS had taken proper action when Meghwal disappeared, after leaving behind a ‘suicide note’ in Jan, he may not have taken his own life.
