The Kerala police has ordered the crime branch to probe into the death of a youth from Bihar who was held in connection with an incident in Mata Amritanandamayi Ashram in Kollam.

Satnam Singh (28) was arrested from Mata Amritanandamayi Ashram on August 1, 2012 while he created a panic at the ashram by screaming and rushing to the podium of Amritanandamayi, popularly known as "Amma", while she was giving blessings to devotees. He was stopped by devotees and security guards and handed over to police.

According his post mortem report, physical torture caused his custodial death.



According to witnesses, Singh came shouting towards the Mata while she was addressing the devotees. He was immediately handed over to the local police station where a case of attempt to murder was charged against him.

According to the police, Singh was taken to the district prison at Kollam where he continued to remain violent. This made the police shift him on to the state Mental Health Centre at Trivandrum on Saturday where he had violent altercations with other inmates as per the police version.

Singh was found unconscious and bleeding in his cell and was shifted to Medical College hospital where he was declared dead on August 4. Meanwhile, Singh's relatives who came down from Bihar, alleged that that he was tortured by officials at prison or the mental hospital.

"His body had more than 30 wounds and bruises" said his cousin Bimal Kishore, a Delhi based journalist.

Singh's father Harinder Singh, a businessman, his son was found missing since May and was mentally unstable which forced him to discontinue his studies at National law School at Lucknow.

The BJP and other Hindu groups have also demanded a probe by NIA to know if terrorist groups were involved in the incident at ashram and the subsequent "mysterious" death of Singh.