IIT Bombay apologises for earlier statement on Sahil Wakode's death amid police investigation

The Indian Institute of Technology IIT Bombay on Thursday issued a formal apology regarding statements made in an earlier communication concerning the circumstances surrounding the death of IIT Bombay student Sahil Ravindra WakodeResharing a statement on X originally published on September 21 2026 IIT Bombay acknowledged that it was premature to release or characterise details regarding the events leading up to the tragic incident before formal inquiries were concludedldquoSharing the earlier post of 21st Sept 2026 again We apologise for the statements contained in our earlier communication concerning the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate demise of Sahil The details and circumstances leading up to the incident remain subject to investigation by the appropriate authoritiesrdquo the post readInstitute authorities further emphasised that the details remain under active investigation by competent legal and law enforcement agenciesldquoIn view of the ongoing investigation it was inappropriate to have set out or characterised details relating to the events preceding his demise before they had been duly established through the appropriate investigative processrdquo IIT Bombay stated in a post on XMeanwhile even as classes resumed at IIT Bombay and the Mumbai Police continues its investigation into the suicide of secondyear student Sahil Wakode a CCTV clip purportedly showing students inside an examination hall at the institute has gone viral on social mediaThe purported CCTV footage which bears a time stamp of September 18 1237 pm shows one of the students sitting in the front row leaving the exam hall while others continue with the test The identity of the student is unclear from the footage and cannot be independently verified social media accounts however claim that the student seen exiting the hall is the late Sahil WakodeThe development comes amid a dispute over the circumstances preceding Sahils death and allegations of castebased harassment levelled by his family against Professor Suryanarayan Doolla and othersIn a statement which was later retracted IIT Bombay had claimed that Sahil Wakode was caught cheating during the examination and counselled by the invigilator Professor DoollaAccording to the preliminary investigation by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch CCTV cameras recorded Sahils movements inside the examination hall between 1230 PM and 1245 PM on September 18 With around 15 minutes remaining for the examination to conclude Sahil was seen bending down to look at something kept in his pocketSubsequently a professor questioned him and took him aside away from the other students according to the policeAfter leaving the examination hall Sahil moved across the campus He reached his hostel room at approximately 125 PM He did not step out of the room thereafter the Crime Branch official saidThe probe is being conducted by an ACPrank officer under the supervision of DCP DetectionI Crime Branch Police have urged people to refrain from speculation and drawing premature conclusionsIITBombay has also constituted a 10member committee to examine the circumstances surrounding Sahils death Professor Doolla has been relieved of his administrative responsibilities and sent on leave pending the inquiryMeanwhile Professor Doolla has got the backing of various present and former colleagues who have raised objections about his deanship being suspended by the instituteSahil a secondyear BTech student of the Department of Energy Science and Engineering died by suicide on September 18 His family has alleged harassment and castebased discrimination while the institute has maintained that the examination incident is being investigatedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever