The death of a junior lecturer working in a college in Hyderabad, hours after he posted serious allegations on his Facebook account, has triggered off mass speculation on social media.
K Praveen Kumar, who was working in the MS Junior College at Malakpet, died on Wednesday after reportedly getting hit by a truck near the MGM hospital in Warangal.
In a series of posts in the early hours of September 28, Praveen claimed that ISIS was running a training centre in his college in Hyderabad and that they had beheaded a Hindu lecturer working in the institute.
His posts, in the order in which they were published read:
Save the country...from terrorism...now i will have threat...from the isi agents...last year they tried to kill me...police can u give me protection...if it is possible save the country...hindu lecturers were beheaded in Ms junior college...save the other lecturers...I love INDIA...ISIS training center in Hyderabad...I will have threat from MS junior college management...if anything happened to me that's because of MS education academy...save the INDIA from the influence of Pakistan...bharath matha ki jai...please don't ignore this thing...I am talking about only institution not about the community...thanks to our family members and friends (sic).
However, the police say that there is no evidence to back the claims made by Praveen.
(A screenshot from Praveen's Facebook profile)
Speaking to The News Minute, the Matwada Circle Inspector, who is in-charge of the case, said "While we initially thought it was an accident, it has since been established that it was a suicide. We do not have CCTV footage but we have taken down eye-witness accounts."
"We are yet to find out the motive behind his suicide but we think it could be depression. We will file our report in two days," he added.
When asked about the allegations made by Praveen, the officer said "Since the claims made by the deceased are serious, we are not taking any chances in the investigation but preliminary inquiry does not show any evidence to support his claims."
Meanwhile, Praveen's family has filed a complaint with the Matwada police in Warangal, alleging that the college management harassed and threatened Praveen, which led to his death.
A team of policemen from Warangal also visited Hyderabad on Friday to speak to the college administration.
"Since the incident took place in Warangal and has nothing to do with the college, we are not taking any steps. However, for the past two days, the police have come to the campus and spoken to the concerned authorities," a representative of the MS educational institute told TNM.
"They also spoke to some lecturers and students and we are cooperating in every way with them," he added.
The college has also denied all allegations made on Facebook by Praveen.