Mumbai, Sep 25 (PTI) Police have recorded the statements of 20 persons in connection with the alleged suicide of IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode and are also trying to access his locked mobile phone, officials said on Friday.
Wakode’s parents, who have alleged caste discrimination against their son at the institute, staged a hunger strike at Azad Maidain on Thursday.
On Friday they visited the Mumbai Police Crime Branch office to meet senior officials.
Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale, meanwhile, visited IIT Bombay, and sought a thorough investigation into Wakode’s death.
As per the preliminary investigation, Sahil Wakode (22), a student in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, went straight to his hostel room after leaving the examination hall on September 18. The institute had initially claimed that he had been caught using ChatGPT on his mobile phone at the examination.
When he did not emerge from his room by around 7 pm, the door was opened and he was found dead inside.
Among the 20 persons questioned so far are students who were present in the examination hall as well as invigilators and various administrative officials, police said.
Sahil’s mobile phone was secured with a pattern lock, restricting access, though several missed call notifications were visible on the display screen, a police official said. Forensic experts were trying to access the device, he said.
IIT Bombay faculty member Suryanarayan Doolla, named in the police FIR which alleges abetment to suicide on grounds of caste discrimination, has been sent on leave to facilitate an impartial probe into the case.
Sahil’s parents Ravindra and Sonali Wakode began a hunger strike at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on Thursday, alleging that their son repeatedly faced caste discrimination at the institute and demanding action against his ‘tormentors’. But they left the ground at night.
During his visit to IIT Bombay, Union minister Athawale, a prominent Dalit leader from Maharashtra, had a discussion with the institute’s director and senior officials. He also visited Wakode’s hostel room, officials said.
“Any student who gets admission to the IIT is very clever and highly capable. “Sahil’s death should be thoroughly investigated and action should be taken against those responsible,” the minister said.
“The way he died by suicide suggests there could be some major reason behind it. Someone may have insulted him and forced him to take the extreme step,” Athawale said.
He would discuss the issue with Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi too, he said.
The institute has apologised twice over its earlier communication indicating that Sahil died by suicide hours after allegedly being caught using ChatGPT during an exam.
Some TV channels aired CCTV footage from the examination hall that captured Sahil’s movements before a professor approached him and led him away from the hall.
Police said that the CCTV footage was being used to reconstruct the sequence of events. PTI ZA PS VT NR KRK
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