Inquiry sought into Kanchi kids' death

Even as the Shankaracharya of Kanchi, Jayendra Saraswati, faces charges in a murder case, a family in Kerala has demanded an investigation into the deaths of two students at the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham almost 20 years ago.

Kesavan Namboodhiri and Sankaran Namboodhiri, who were studying at the Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Nyaya Sastra Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya in Kanchipuram, which is run by the Kanchi Math died under suspicious circumstances in 1985.

"I now suspect that my brother died of some foul play at Kanchipuram. I cannot simply believe that he died of an electric shock, as [was] stated by the Math officials," Narayanan Namboodhiri, Kesavan's brother, told rediff.com

According to Narayanan, the two boys were good students, good friends and roommates, too. In October 1985, Kesavan's family received a message from Kanchipuram saying he had died of an electric shock while trying to change a bulb.

Two days later, the Math authoriti

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es brought Kesavan's body to Thiruvananthapuram. Narayanan says Kesavan's body had injury marks on the head and genitals. "We suspected some foul play at that time. We then demanded a detailed explanation from the Kanchi Math. But we got nothing," he says.

Kesavan's family had also approached the Tamil Nadu police demanding a probe. However, nothing worked out.

Two weeks after Kesavan's death, Sankaran was found dead near a railway track in Thrissur.

Narayanan suspects murder and he plans to submit a memorandum to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and her Kerala counterpart Oommen Chandy demanding a probe.

"In the wake of the new developments at the Math, I want to ensure that we also get justice. We need to know how Kesavan and Sankaran died," Narayanan said.