Student found dead at IIT Kharagpur; 2nd death in 4 days

Kolkata: A second-year electrical engineering student at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur was found dead under mysterious circumstances on Monday night, marking the second such incident on campus in just four days.

The deceased student, Chandradip Pawar from Madhya Pradesh, was transferred to the hospital within the IIT Kharagpur campus after reportedly choking on medicine he had consumed following doctor’s advice. According to local police sources, the tablet got stuck in his trachea or windpipe, leading to his death. Despite medical intervention, doctors declared him dead at the hospital. The body has been sent for post-mortem examination, and the final cause of death will be confirmed after the autopsy report is received.

The police have launched an investigation into the incident. Pawar’s family was informed on Monday night and arrived in Kharagpur on Tuesday morning. An insider from the institute revealed that Pawar had shown signs of mental stress in recent days, raising questions and concerns about the circumstances surrounding his death.

This marks the fifth unnatural death on the IIT Kharagpur campus. The previous recent death was of Ritam Mondal, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student, whose body was discovered under mysterious circumstances in his hostel room on July 18. Other cases include Shaon Malik, a third-year electrical engineering student who died by suicide on January 12; Aniket Walker, a final-year Ocean Engineering student found hanging in JC Bose Hall on April 20; and Mohammad Asif Qamar, a third-year B.Tech student from Bihar found dead in his room at Madan Mohan Malviya Hall on May 4.

The institute authorities have communicated closely with local police, and the investigation is ongoing to determine the exact cause of these tragic incidents.

With IANS inputs