'Hand over the case to CBI': Assam CM writes to Mamata Banerjee on IIT Kharagpur student's death

GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, demanding that the case related to the death of IIT-Kharagpur student Faizan Ahmed be handed over to the CBI for investigation following the findings of the latest forensic report. According to the second forensic report, conducted at the direction of the Calcutta High Court, there was a gunshot wound on the upper left side of Ahmed's neck and a stab wound on the right side of his neck, Sarma said in his letter, which was made available to the press on Tuesday.

In view of the "shocking findings of the latest forensic report, it is imperative that the perpetrators of the horrific crime as well as any other person involved in concealing the crime are brought to book", he said. This would ensure "justice to the deceased and closure to the grief stricken parents", he said. "Kindly hand over the case to the CBI for a transparent and fair investigation of the crime," he added. Sarma had written to Banerjee in October 2022, requesting a thorough investigation into the unnatural death of the student.

Ahmed, 23, was found dead in his hostel room on October 14, 2022, and his death was claimed by the IIT-Kharagpur authorities to be a case of suicide. However, his parents claimed that they had observed injury marks on his body. His mother had moved the Calcutta High Court in May 2023, seeking the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the death. The court then ordered the exhumation of his remains and a second post-mortem examination to "bring out the truth behind his death". Ahmed, a resident of Tinsukia in Assam, was a third-year mechanical engineering student at IIT-Kharagpur.