IIT Bombay student death: Crime Branch analyses CCTV footage

The Mumbai Crime Branch is analysing CCTV footage from IIT Bombay’s examination hall and hostel to reconstruct events preceding student Sahil Wakode’s death. Police are examining his movements after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone to access ChatGPT

Mumbai: Four days after IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode died by suicide after he was allegedly caught using ChatGPT during an examination, the Mumbai Police Crime Branch is analysing CCTV footage from the examination hall and hostel to establish a timeline of events leading up to his death.

IIT Bombay Faculty Forum president Rajkumar Pant said 22-year-old Sahil had not approached the institute’s SC/ST cell with any complaint in the recent past.

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Police on Tuesday detained RPI activists protesting outside the IIT Bombay gate over Sahil’s death.

Sahil, a second-year BTech student in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, was found hanging in his hostel room on the Powai campus on the evening of September 18, hours after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone to access ChatGPT during a mid-semester examination.

IIT Bombay has initiated the replacement of ceiling fans with wall-mounted fans after Sahil’s death, sources familiar with the development said.

An image of a batch of wall-mounted fans arriving on the campus as part of “renovation work” has gone viral on social media.

Sahil’s death case was transferred to the Crime Branch on September 19 for further investigation following widespread student protests on campus.

According to officials, CCTV cameras inside the examination hall captured Sahil’s movements before a professor approached him and led him away from the other students after he was allegedly caught copying.

Subsequent footage showed Sahil walking across the campus to his hostel room after exiting the examination hall. He was not seen leaving his room thereafter, an official said.

The student was later found dead inside his hostel room.

Investigators are compiling and cross-referencing camera feeds from multiple locations across the institute to map his movements and reconstruct the sequence of events preceding the incident.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay on Monday removed Suryanarayana Doolla as dean of Administrative Affairs following protests by students and political activists over Sahil’s suicide, which led to a case of abetment and caste discrimination being registered against him.

An official declined to comment on reports that the CCTV footage shows Doolla questioning Sahil after apparently noticing him looking at something in his pocket, before taking him aside from the other students.

The campus witnessed protests following the student’s suicide, prompting the police to step up security measures.

Student representatives said their agitation was not aimed at defending academic misconduct, but rather at highlighting broader systemic issues and demanding institutional reforms.

A student delegation has submitted a list of demands to the IIT Bombay Director, who acknowledged the concerns and assured that they would be implemented within specific timelines, officials said.