The death of a veterinary student who was found hanging in his hostel washroom on February 18 has snowballed into a political issue in Kerala, with many of those arrested and absconding being part of the SFI, the CPM’s campus arm.

J.S. Sidharth, 21, a second-year student of Bachelor of Veterinary Science at Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University in Pookode, Wayanad, was allegedly a victim of assault and mob trial by his hostel mates.

While the preliminary investigation pointed to a minor tiff over Sidharth’s alleged overture to a fellow female student on Valentine’s Day as the trigger for the torture, his parents alleged it was a clear case of murder following brutal ragging.

Although the post-mortem findings were consistent with signs of death by hanging, it noted that Sidharth “had sustained multiple blunt injuries including tramline contusion of age 2-3 days on the body suggestive of assault”. Police have identified 18 students, most of them linked to the SFI. While seven of them have been arrested till Friday morning, a hunt is on to nab the rest.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday formed an SIT to probe the incident that has put his party and government in the spot and promised strict action.