Congress, Left tried to gain political mileage by linking Rohith Vemula's suicide to BJP: Former MLC Rao

Hyderabad: Former BJP MLC N Ramchander Rao, an accused in the 2016 Rohith Vemula suicide case, on Friday alleged that Congress and Left parties had tried to gain political mileage by linking the death of the University of Hyderabad student to the BJP.

Vemula's suicide was painful but the attitude of the Congress and Left parties was deplorable, Ramchander Rao said.

Rao's remarks came after Telangana Police filed a closure report in the case before a local court and gave a clean chit to the accused, including Rao.

Police claimed Vemula was not a Dalit and died by suicide in 2016 as he feared that his "real caste" would be discovered.

Meanwhile, a group of students protested at the University of Hyderabad and raised slogans against the BJP, Union minister Smriti Irani and former university vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile, who was also among the accused persons.

In a social media post, the Students' Federation of India (SFI) said the closure report filed by police "on Rohith Vemula's institutional murder is an exercise in irony".

"The Congress government and its police are supporting the false narrative of the BJP by tagging Rohith not to be a Dalit despite lack of proof of the same," it said.

Vemula's family said on Friday that it will legally contest the closure report.

Following this, police said they have decided to conduct further investigation into the case.

A petition will be filed in the court concerned requesting the magistrate to permit further investigation into the case, Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) Ravi Gupta said in a statement.