A fourth-year M Tech student of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur was found hanging in his hostel room on Tuesday, the second such incident in 10 days.
The deceased student has been identified as Soham Haldar, a resident of Barasat in North 24 Parganas. According to police sources, he was staying at the Mohan Malviya Hall on the IIT Kharagpur campus.
Taken to the BC Roy Hospital on the premier institute’s campus, doctors declared Haldar dead. The Hijli police outpost, under Kharagpur Town police station, has launched an investigation into the incident and are also examining the CCTV footage to reconstruct Haldar’s movements on Monday.
According to police sources, Haldar’s friends found the door to his room closed Tuesday morning. After knocking for some time, when there was no reply from inside they informed the security personnel.
According to a senior police officer, “Nothing can be said until the investigation is complete. We have come to know that the student had last spoken to his sister.”
In a statement, IIT Kharagpur expressed a “sense of utter shock” and said “the institute is extending full cooperation to the authorities”. “Soham Halder was found dead in his room in Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Hall of Residence in the morning of April 28, 2026. Campus security and medical teams were alerted immediately upon discovery. The local police authorities have been informed and are conducting a detailed investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident,” the statement read.
“The Institute administration has informed Halder’s family at the earliest and is in constant touch with them, extending all possible support and assistance during this time of immense grief. The entire IIT Kharagpur community, students, faculty, and staff, stands united in mourning this tragic loss. The Institute remains committed to the well-being and mental health of its students and continues to provide access to professional counselling and support services. Students are strongly encouraged to seek help and reach out to these resources whenever needed,” it said.
On April 18, Jaiveer Singh Dodia, a third-year mechanical engineering student at IIT Kharagpur, was found dead after he allegedly jumped off the roof of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hall.
In 2025, Shooan Malik, Aniket Walker, Mohammad Asif Qamar, Ritam Mandal, Chandradeep Pawar, and Harsh Kumar Pandey — all IIT Kharagpur students — were found dead on campus. On December 7 last year, Bhattaram Shravan Kumar’s body was recovered near the Puri gate after being allegedly hit by a train.