Kannur (Kerala): Police have registered an extortion case against an online loan app for allegedly harassing a first-year BDS student, Nithin Raj R L, whose death earlier this month triggered protests.

The case was registered at Chakkarakkallu police station on April 16 based on a complaint by the cyber cell, nearly a week after the student's death.

According to the FIR, the app allegedly used intimidation tactics to recover a loan of Rs 15,000 disbursed to the student in January at an interest rate of 36 per cent, in violation of norms. From April 9, the operators repeatedly called and allegedly harassed him.

Police have invoked section 308 (extortion) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant provisions of the Kerala Money Lenders Act and the Kerala Prohibition of Charging Exorbitant Interest Act.

Raj (22), a student of a private dental college in Anjarakandy, was found critically injured after falling from a building on April 10 and later died.

Police had earlier booked two faculty members for abetment of suicide and under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act following allegations of caste-based harassment. One of them has been dismissed by the college.

Multiple agencies, including the Kerala SC/ST Commission and the Kerala University of Health Sciences, are conducting separate inquiries.