Kolkata: IIT-Kharagpur student Faizan Ahmed’s semi-decomposed body was found in Room no. C-205 of Lala Lajpat Rai Hostel on 14 October, 2022, in India’s premier institute. Two years on, the latest forensic report has claimed that the 23-year-old mechanical engineering student was brutally murdered.
According to the second forensic report by Dr A.K. Gupta, there was a gunshot wound on the upper left side of Faizan’s neck and a stab wound on the right side of his neck. According to sources, the report also mentions the police had not done any videography of these particular injuries during its primary investigation, or while conducting the first postmortem at Midnapore Medical College on 15 October, 2022.
In 2022, at least three days before Faizan’s body was found, his family had said their son was killed. The room where the body was discovered wasn’t Faizan’s hostel room.
It is only after the second postmortem was ordered by the Calcutta High Court and conducted at the Kolkata Police Morgue on 27 May, 2023, it was revealed that the right temporal bone of Faizan’s skull was missing and matched the still photographs from the day his body was found in a decomposed state. Additionally, the report ruled out poisoning, which had been previously suspected in an earlier report presented to the HC.
The Calcutta HC on 29 March last year had ordered Faizan’s body to be exhumed from his hometown in Assam’s Dibrugarh to carry out a forensic examination by a court-appointed expert — Dr A.K. Gupta, a retired professor of forensic medicine and technology, who was tasked to examine Faizan’s post-mortem reports and ascertain the cause and manner of his death. Faizan’s decomposed remains were brought in plywood cartons to the Kolkata Police morgue on 24, May, 2024.
The final report by Dr Gupta in the case is likely to be submitted later this month.
The matter will come up before the Calcutta HC for hearing next week before Justice Amrita Sinha’s bench after two changes in determination shifted the case from Justice Jay Sengupta’s Bench, who was earlier hearing it after Justice Mantha.
‘I have almost given up hope’
When the incident took place, both IIT-Kharagpur, as well as Kharagpur Town Police, had informed Faizan’s parents that he had committed “suicide” and ruled out any foul play or ragging. But after seeing the condition of their only child’s body, the parents decided to move Calcutta HC on 1 November, 2022, seeking a thorough probe. It’s during this hearing that Justice Rajasekhar Mantha appointed Dr A.K. Gupta to examine the forensic reports. A second FIR was filed by Paschim Medinipur Police in February 2023, which included section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, only after Calcutta High intervention.
IIT-Kharagpur’s fact-finding report had informed the HC that Faizan suffered from “mental health issues”. However, Dr Gupta’s preliminary report from April 2023 — after visiting the crime scene and reviewing the first post-mortem — sought a fresh post-mortem by exhuming the remains due to gaps and injuries on his arms that were inflicted after his death. The second post-mortem in June 2023 revealed ‘homicidal injuries’, leading the HC to come down heavily on IIT-Kharagpur’s poor handling of the case and form a Special Investigating Team (SIT) led by IPS K. Jayaraman, Administrator, Forensic Science Laboratory, West Bengal, in the rank of Additional Director General (ADG).
In a response to ThePrint via text, Jayaraman said: “We have submitted the findings of our investigation in the High Court. You may please see. We have not found any such evidence. Nothing more to say on this sub-judice case.”
Speaking to ThePrint, lawyer Aniruddha Mitra, who represents Faizan’s family, said: “The SIT has been moving slow on the case and still proceeding with the investigation on the lines of suicide while the evidence shows otherwise. None have been arrested, seven persons, including five IIT-Kharagpur students, the former warden of Rajendra Prasad Hall and one assistant professor at the institute, who was the assistant warden (maintenance), are currently out on bail. We will wait for the final report from Dr Gupta before seeking further instructions for the SIT or a court-monitored investigation.”
ThePrint has emailed a questionnaire to Professor Virendra Kumar Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur. This article will be updated if and when a response is received.
Earlier, both the West Bengal government and IIT-Kharagpur moved the Chief Justice Division Bench to seek a stay on the SIT probe, during the course of investigation. In August 2023, Division Bench comprising Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, upheld the Single Bench order and only modified the three-member SIT composition and allowed the SIT head to pick his members instead of the ones who were appointed by the Single Bench judge.
Speaking to ThePrint, Faizan’s mother Rehana Ahmed said this was a murder that couldn’t have been committed by students. “I am sure there is some foul play between IIT and the police. There are so many loopholes in the case. How can students shoot another student on campus? Faizan’s friends told me he was taken to the medical facility at IIT and kept there for two days before his body was dumped in the hostel room which wasn’t even his allotted room. What was my child’s crime?
Faizan Ahmed would have graduated from IIT-Kharagpur, Mechanical Engineering department this year, but instead of celebrating his convocation, his family is fighting for justice. His mother has written to the Chief Minister of West Bengal and the Union Minister of Education in the past but hasn’t received any response. “I have lost my son, he will never come back and I have almost given up hope, we will never get justice. When I saw my son’s body, I was shocked. The police told me, I shouldn’t question the blood. They told me ‘marne ke baad kahan kahan se khoon nikalta hai, aapko kya pata’,” she recalled.
“I sleep with the door open sometimes hoping Faizan will surprise me and tell me he is back,” she added.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray)