Mahija and Avishna and other family members have called off their five-day-old indefinite fast with the arrest of N. Sakthivel, Vice-Principal of the Nehru College of Engineering, Thrissur, the third accused in the Jishnu Pranoy death case, and assurances of positive action on their demands from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The family announced their decision to call off their fast after signing a 10-point agreement with the special prosecutor in the Jishnu death case and State Attorney K.V. Sohan, at the end of a three-hour long discussion with the government representatives at the government medical college here. Ms. Avishna announced her decision to call off her four-day-old fast on being told to do so by her mother and uncle Sreejith.
Talking to reporters after the agreement was arrived at late on Sunday evening, Mr. Udayabhanu and Mr. Sohan said the family had accepted the promise that all the accused in the case would be arrested and action taken on their demands relating to the happenings in front of the police headquarters.
The breakthrough in the five-day stand-off between the government and the family came after CPI State secretary Kanam Rajendran held talks with the family at the Government Medical College Hospital here, followed by mediation by the special prosecutor and the State Attorney and, finally, a telephone call from the Chief Minister assuring the family that all the accused in Jishnu death case would be arrested. He also promised Ms. Mahija that action would be taken if the police had committed any excesses while taking them into custody in front of the police headquarters on April 5.
Meanwhile, L. Thankamma, mother of K.M. Shajahan, who was arrested along with four others on April 5 from near the police headquarters, began an indefinite fast at her home in the capital on Sunday morning.
