Kerala's Crime Branch has arrested Dr. M.K. Ram, the primary suspect in the abetment-of-suicide case linked to the death of first-year dental student R.L. Nithin Raj, after apprehending him in Karnataka following weeks as a fugitive. Nithin Raj, a student at Kannur Dental College (a private institution in Anjarakandy, northern Kerala), died on 10 April; his family alleged he faced caste-based harassment by faculty members, prompting a criminal case against college staff. Dr. Ram, a former head of the Dental Anatomy Department, had been evading arrest since both the Kerala High Court and the Supreme Court rejected his anticipatory bail pleas, and investigators also separately probed the role of a Noida-based loan app, Instapay, whose recovery agents are alleged to have repeatedly threatened the student over high-interest debt.