Kochi, May 31 ( IANS): The Kerala High Court on Friday granted bail to 19 students accused in the death of second-year veterinary student Sidharthan, who was found hanging in the toilet of his hostel at the state-run Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University in Wayanad in February this year.

The decision is a setback to the CBI, which is probing the matter.

Initially, when Sidharthan's body was discovered, a case of unnatural death was registered by the Kerala Police.

But after the parents and the opposition parties protested, the Pinarayi Vijayan government handed over the probe to the CBI in March.

When the bail application came up before the High Court, the counsel for the accused argued that they had every right to bail. The CBI strongly opposed this, stating that the accused were guilty of brutally ragging and assaulting Sidharthan.

But the judge ruled that "on an overall consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, prima facie, I do not find sufficient material to establish any positive act on the part of the accused to have instigated or aided the deceased to commit suicide" as he granted bail.

Reacting to the verdict, Sidharthan's parents said they had no clue why the court took such a stand. "We will not sit idle hearing this judgment and we will do the needful. It’s now become very clear that the Kerala Police was guilty of destroying crucial evidence in the case, which led to what happened today," Sidharthan's father said.