Kannur: A 26-year-old cadet of Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala died on Thursday following cardiac arrest in a hospital here, but his family has alleged foul play by the Navy in his death.
The Cadet Gudeppa Sooraj, was found in an unconscious and unresponsive state on the floor of the INA's academic wing by a sailor instructor yesterday.
He was immediately rushed to the ICU of Indian Naval Hospital "Navjivani" and administered IV Fluid resuscitation.
He was shifted later to Pariyaram Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) in Kannur district. A medical specialist and medical assistants accompanied him.
The cadet from Malappuram district suffered two episodes of cardiac arrest at PMCH and all efforts to revive him failed and he was declared dead at 2.30 am today, a Navy release said.
The next of kin has been informed and an inquiry has been ordered by the Southern Naval Command into the incident, it added.
However, his family alleged that Sooraj was "killed" by the academy officials who "tortured, humiliated and harassed" him and based on their complaint police has registered a case of unnatural death.
The cadet's brother Sanoj alleged his brother was "hit with hockey sticks, his bones were broken in the name of discipline" and he will never commit suicide.
Reacting to the allegations, the Navy sources told PTI that the allegations were "baseless and the Navy has nothing to hide."
"The incident is extremely unfortunate. The police and the Naval authorities will carry out independent investigations on their own," the sources said.
The Naval Academy will cooperate with both the investigations.
The cadet had joined the academy as sailor in 2010 and he later cleared the officers test and was taken in as trainee.
After completing 3 years, he was allegedly caught for cheating in academic examinations and was expelled against which the cadet moved a court.
The court while agreeing with Navy that it did right in terminating the cadet, had asked it to consider giving him another chance considering his young age and number of years he had lost out.
In February this year, the cadet was allowed to join the academy in a fresh batch. However, he was again caught cheating in the examination held yesterday and before any action was taken he was found in a serious condition on the floor of the INA's academic wing at 5.30 pm yesterday.
The Southern Naval Command has ordered a board of inquiry into the incident.
Sooraj's father, Gudappa Ramanna, a retired Naval official, hails from Karnataka, while his mother is from Tirur in Malappuram district.
Comments
0 comment