Kovai school student’s death: Probe transferred to CB-CID

A. Kowsalyadevi, mother of the deceased student Akilan, at the protest site in Coimbatore on Monday (October 26, 2026) with a copy of the DGP’s order transferring the investigation to the CB-CID.Director General of Police Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal transferred the investigation into the alleged death by suicide of Class XI student A. Akilan (16) in Coimbatore to the Crime Branch Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) on Monday.
The DGP’s order stated that the case, which was registered by the Peelamedu police in Coimbatore under Sections 115(2), 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita read with 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in connection with the death on October 22, has been transferred to the CB-CID for further investigation.
The order directed the Coimbatore City Police Commissioner to hand over the original case file and all connected records of the case to the DGP, CB-CID, immediately. The DGP, CB-CID, will nominate an investigating officer, who will take up the investigation.
Akilan, who belongs to a Scheduled Caste community, was found dead in his house on October 21. The police arrested two of his classmates, who belong to different dominant castes, two days later for allegedly having subjected him to caste-based harassment. The police were also investigating allegations levelled by Akilan’s mother against a teacher and the headmaster.
Backward Classes Welfare Minister V. Sampath Kumar on Monday handed over an order sanctioning ₹6 lakh in interim compensation to Akilan’s family.
He also handed over a government job appointment order to Akilan’s sister, Nethra, as a junior assistant at the Anaikatti Tribal Residential School. The Minister met the family at the South Taluk Office in Coimbatore and offered his condolences.