IIT Bombay student's death: SIT recovers cutter used by arrested batchmate to 'threaten' victim

MUMBAI: The Mumbai police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) has recovered a cutter that was allegedly used by the batchmate of IIT Bombay student Darshan Solanki to threaten the latter, an official said on Wednesday. The SIT arrested Solanki's batchmate Arman Khatri three days back in connection with the alleged abetment of his suicide.

Khatri and Solanki stayed on the same floor of a hostel at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay located in suburban Powai. "The cutter, which Khatri used for threatening the victim, was recovered from the hostel room of the former on Tuesday. It was recovered after Khatri was taken to his hostel room as part of investigation," the official said.

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Khatri is being interrogated to know the exact reason behind his dispute with Solanki, he said. Solanki, who hailed from Ahmedabad in Gujarat and was a first-year student of the B Tech (Chemical) course, allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the seventh floor of a hostel building located on the IITB campus on February 12 this year.

The Maharashtra government had formed the SIT to conduct a probe into Solanki's death. The SIT recently received a report from a handwriting expert, which said the handwriting in the purported suicide note recovered from the institute's hostel matched the writing samples of the deceased, confirming that it was written by him.

Solanki's family has claimed that he faced discrimination at the premier institute for belonging to a Scheduled Caste (SC) community and suspected foul play in his death. However, the inquiry committee set up by the IITB had ruled out caste-based discrimination and hinted at deteriorating academic performance as a possible cause of suicide.