Groundxero | 06 June, 2023
In a major development, in the death of IIT Kharagpur student Faizan Ahmed, whose dead body was found inside his hostel room in October last year, the Calcutta High Court after going through the ‘second autopsy report’ observed that it is a case of ‘homicide’. The High Court ordered Kharagpur police to include Section 302 in the IITian Faizan Ahmed death case. Justice Rajesekhar Mantha further said that in the next hearing, the court will decide the investigating agency which will probe the death of Faizan.
On October 14, 2022, the partially decomposed body of Faizan Ahmed (23), a third-year Mechanical Engineering student of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, West Bengal, was found inside the LLR Hostel inside the campus. While the IIT administration claimed that Faizan has committed suicide, his family alleged that he was murdered. The post-mortem report of the 23-year-old youth conducted at Midnapore Hospital (WB) could not ascertain any concrete cause for his death. No poisonous substance was found inside his body nor was any hanging mark found on his body. The students in IIT Kharagpur also refused to accept the suicide story. They protested, held a night-long public meeting with the director, and organized a candlelight march in solidarity with their deceased fellow student.
Candlelight protest by students at Kharagpur IIT after Faizan Ahmed’s partially decomposed body was found inside his hostel room
Rehana Ahmed, his mother, had told eNewsroom , “On October 11, he spoke to me about lunch. He said that it was a tasty meal. Then he said bye, mentioning he had to reach the library. In the evening, around 7.30 pm, when he was going for dinner, he spoke to his aunt and said, “Kadi wagairah bana hoga, kha lenge. Itna apne mausi ko bol kar usne phone rakh diya”. His mother appealed to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to urgently and immediately intervene, while seeking justice from her.
The family lives in Tinsukia, Assam. The parents had written to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan seeking a high-level inquiry into his sudden and mysterious death. Himanta Sarma had written to the Bengal CM seeking a probe into the death of Faizan. The family also held a press conference in Assam alleging that they were not shown CCTV footage by the IIT authorities. They had demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into his mysterious death.
Retired forensic expert Ajay Kumar Gupta, who was instructed by the High Court to submit his opinion on the post-mortem report, claimed that the video clippings of the post-mortem report indicated a case of hematoma. On the request of Dr Gupta, the High Court had ordered a second autopsy of Faizan’s body. His body was exhumed from Dibrugarh and flown to Calcutta Medical College Hospital, where the autopsy was performed on May 27, 2023.
Today, during the hearing of the case, the court did not allow IIT Kharagpur to get a copy of the second autopsy report as of now, as they may be the accused. During the hearing, Justice Mantha even remarked: “IIT Kharagpur has also tried to fudge the documents.”
Meanwhile, the lawyers representing the case — Ranjit Chatterjee, Atis Biswas, Niladri Sengupta and Aniruddha Mitra — described it as a major step towards establishing the fact that Faizan was murdered. Ranjit Chatterjee told eNewsroom after the court hearing, “The second post mortem establishes a case of homicide with death occurring due to profuse bleeding from injuries in the head and chest.” Advocate Chatterjee also added, “Second PM report will be handed over to IO [Investigating Officer] but not to the IIT at this stage because of their likely involvement in the murder.”
Rehana and Salim Ahmed, mother and father of Faizan, who are fighting a tireless battle for justice of their only child, Faizan, told eNewsroom, “Today, the court order proved that my son had not committed suicide. He was not a weak human. He was murdered. We always maintained and believed in this ever since we got the news of his death at IIT Kharagpur.”
The family of Faizan with the lawyer after the hearing. From left : Rehana Ahmed, Salim Ahmed, Aniruddha Mitra and Sarfaraz Alam
eNewsroom tried contacting VK Tiwari, Director, IIT Kharagpur but the calls remained unanswered. However, the biggest question remains : Who killed Faizan Ahmed inside the IIT campus?
The court will during the next hearing on Wednesday, June 14, decide on who will investigate into the unnatural death of Faizan.
(This report has been republished with some minor edits from news portal eNewsroom with their permission. You can read the original report here.)