Suicide case: Court orders to makeSNDP leader Vellapally, son accused

The court directed the police to make both and their aide K L Ashokan accused and charge them under sections of the abetment to suicide.

A court in Alappuzha in Kerala on Wednesday ordered to make general secretary of Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) Vellapally Natesan and his son Tushar Vellapally accused in the death of a former office-bearer of the SNDP.

The note also alleged that he was made a scapegoat in a microfinance cheating case and forced to appear before the police several times. (HT Photo)

The court directed the police to make both and their aide K L Ashokan accused and charge them under sections of the abetment to suicide. The victim’s body was found hanging in one of the offices of the SNDP in Alappuzha on June 24, 2020, and in the suicide note found from the site he alleged that the three were behind his death.

The note also alleged that he was made a scapegoat in a microfinance cheating case and forced to appear before the police several times.

Mahesan’s relatives also accused these three for abetting the suicide and alleged that he was harassed and tortured to own up the crime of fund embezzlement. They also cited a post in social media made by the victim just before his death, listing out harassment meted out to him and how the finance scheme was botched up. His brothers moved the court after police failed to make them accused due to their high connections.

The SNDP, a social body of backward Ezhavas, is a powerful organisation as the community forms roughly 25% of the population in the state. In 2012, the SNDP had procured a loan of ₹5,000 crore from banks and Kerala Backward Development Corporation to start micro-finance self-help groups. But the scheme suffered huge setbacks three years later and a case was registered against some of the office-bearers.

Tushar Vellapally, who contested against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad as NDA candidate in last parliament elections, was recently named in the Telangana MLA poaching case. On the run for two weeks, Telangana HC on Wednesday granted him anticipatory bail. His house and offices were raided by a police team from Hyderabad two weeks ago.