Death of Kerala BDS student: Telecaller of loan application arrested from Delhi

The Crime Branch on Friday arrested the fourth accused in connection with the alleged incitement to suicide of Nithin Raj, a first-year BDS student at Kannur Dental College in Anjarakandy, Kerala.

The latest arrest is that of a telecaller from Uttar Pradesh, identified as Saurav Kumar (24), a native of Noida. He was arrested from Delhi and was charged with abetting suicide. According to investigators, Saurav was working as a telecaller for a loan application that allegedly subjected Nithin Raj to repeated harassment and threats to repay the loan.

Crime Branch is investigating the role of loan application operators in the death of Nithin Raj, who died after jumping from a college building on April 10. Investigators are looking into allegations that constant harassment from debt collection agents and coercion associated with the digital loan contributed to the student’s emotional distress.

The Kannur cyber crime police had earlier arrested three people associated with loan app InstaPay from Noida in Uttar Pradesh. The accused have been identified as Rishikesh Tiwari (32) of Ghaziabad, Prashant Gheval (28) of Uttar Pradesh and Prakash Jai (54) of Faridabad, Haryana. They were taken to Kannur and remanded in judicial custody. Investigators say the application gave Nithin Raj a loan at an exorbitant interest rate and that enforcement agents repeatedly contacted and threatened him and the people listed on the application as references.

Police records indicate that Nithin Raj borrowed ₹15,000 through a loan application and was allegedly subjected to relentless extortion calls. A case was registered after investigators found that he was receiving repeated calls and pressure from the app before his death.

Apart from the loan application angle, the crime branch is also probing allegations of caste harassment and mental harassment by faculty members of the dental college. The case involves allegations of incitement to suicide and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the accused faculty members.

Published – 12 June 2026 15:53 ​​IST