Mumbai: The discovery of an alleged suicide note by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), Mumbai with regard to the February 12 incident at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Powai has knocked at the bottom of the murder theory which a group of students and a few left political activists were pushing.
Both the Powai police, which conducted the initial investigation and SIT, have come to the conclusion that Darshan Solanki (18) ended his life.
The activists had claimed that Solanki was a victim of casteism in the campus. But the internal probe by the IIT management did not find any evidence of casteism.
In the suicide note, Solanki- a first year B. Tech student of chemical engineering hailing from Gujarat, had alleged Arman Iqbal Khatri responsible for his suicide. In the note, Arman who lived in the same hostel wing of Solanki is responsible for his death. Which clearly rules out the casteist angle.
According to the sources, Solanki and Khatri had quarreled in the past. The Powai police had earlier questioned Khatri but freed him.
However, the SIT is still waiting for the FIR to be registered by the Solanki's family before interrogating Khatri.
A student activist in the campus told FPJ on condition of anonymity that there was no justification for the delay in filing the FIR because the parents had already given a written complaint and they have been campaigning in the city from several days.
The reported suicide note has now neutralised the narrative of murder as casteism.
Now the question asked in political circles is why the Powai police failed to notice the suicide note which SIT found under Solanki's study table.
The explanation to the above question is provided that the note was actually written on one of the blank pages of a four-pages sheet.
In a recent development, the police said that the alleged suicide note was of only four words which was written on the last page of an examination sheet.
As per the sources, the examination sheet had its first three pages filled with questions and answers while on the last page, 'Arman has killed me' written on it.
The SIT claimed that the four words written on the question paper was apparently a suicide note by the deceased which the Powai police had failed to observe.
When Darshan's family was shown the note, her mother admitted that it is her son's handwriting. Meanwhile, the note has been sent for forensics to confirm Darshan's handwriting.
The case was initially registered as Accidental Death Report (ADR) that needs to be converted into an FIR by Darshan's family for further probe regarding the new suspect and other angles in the case.
However, the family of the deceased has not yet registered an FIR and has sought legal advice before doing so.
