Kharagpur: The family of IIT Kharagpur second-year mechanical engineering student Ankit Sharma (18) has alleged that he was murdered, and has filed a complaint with cops on Friday. Ankit died on campus after falling from the third floor of the Nalanda classroom complex. Police said they will look at all angles to ascertain the cause of death. The institute has lodged an FIR and formed a fact-finding committee to probe the circumstances leading to the death.
Ankit’s family reached the campus on Friday. Accompanied by police, they went to B C Roy Hospital to see the body and later visited the Nalanda complex. They also spoke to several professors, IIT officials, and staffers.
Ankit’s uncle Bhanwar Lal Sharma said: “I inspected the spot. There is a railing nearly four-feet high. How could anyone slip and fall? It also doesn’t seem like suicide at all. There are no CCTV cameras there. I believe he was pushed. This is a case of murder.”
Cops said they have written to the IIT authorities seeking details of Sharma’s class schedule, when he attended classes, and when he left Gokhale Hall. The spot where he fell was a concrete surface. His phone, which was broken, has been seized.
The post-mortem examination was conducted at Midnapore Medical College and Hospital under videography.
“I can understand the family’s sudden shock and irreparable loss, and that different possibilities will strike in their minds. But we can’t be speculative. We must let the police complete the probe,” IIT director Suman Chakraborty said.
Bhanwar Lal claimed Ankit had spoken to his father around 2.30 pm on Thursday. “He had no mental health issue. He asked his father for Rs 5,000.”
SP Papiya Sultana said an unnatural death case had been registered. “He was seen going upstairs alone in the CCTV footage. The incident happened within four-five minutes of his class starting,” she said.
Ankit’s father Parameshwar is a farmer while his mother Sumitra is a homemaker. His brother Sriram is a second-year student at IIT Madras and is yet to be informed of Ankit’s death.