IIT student suicide: Special team dispatched to Bihar's Chapra to question aspirant

In the case of IIT-Bombay student Darshan Solanki’s death by suicide, a crime branch team has left for Chapra in Bihar to record the statement of Sam Rajput, who allegedly posted casteist remarks against him. A special investigation team (SIT) was constituted to investigate the case in which statements of Darshan’s parents have also been recorded.

Darshan's father had written letter to probe caste discrimination aspect.

According to one SIT official, it does not appear that Rajput made any caste comments against Darshan. However, Darshan’s father Ramesh Solanki has submitted a written complaint to the SIT to probe the caste discrimination aspect.

Darshan’s sister was the first one to have pointed out the casteist remarks after gaining access to his Instagram account. After this allegation, the police re-recorded the statement of Darshan’s parents.

Rajput not IIT student, no connection with Bombay campus

An SIT officer said Rajput is not a student of IIT but is preparing for IIT-JEE so there is no link between his chats and discrimination against students on IIT-Bombay campus.

Last week, Solanki addressed a section of the media and said that the caste angle has been sidelined in the case. He alleged that when Darshan’s roommate found out about his caste, he stopped talking to him. According to the senior crime branch officer, though, there is video evidence that Darshan attended his roommate’s birthday 10 days prior to his death.

IIT student Darshan Solanki committed suicide by jumping from the seventh floor of his hostel on February 12. An SIT was formed to investigate the matter, in which the team also recovered a suicide note from his room pinning blame on another student Arman Khatri. The latter was arrested and granted bail for lack of evidence that he abetted Darshan’s suicide.