Another mysterious death of a student has rocked Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur) campus in West Bengal. On Saturday afternoon, the body of a student was found hanging from his hostel room. The deceased has been identified as Harsh Kumar Pandey. The 27-year-old research scholar was a resident of Jharkhand.
His body was recovered from a room in B Block of IIT’s B.R. Ambedkar Hostel this afternoon. Hijli outpost police under Kharagpur police station reached the spot. The body has been recovered and sent for autopsy. An investigation has been started. The news has been sent to the family of the deceased.
With this, a total of 6 students have died mysteriously at IIT Kharagpur this year. Out of which, five were found hanging.
How was the body recovered?
Around 1:30 pm on Saturday, residents of B Block noticed that the door of room no. 557 was closed. Researcher-student Harsh Kumar Pandey lived alone in this room. After noticing that his door is closed for a long time, some of the students started knocking on the door. After getting no response, the students informed the hostel security guard. He also knocked the door repeatedly but did not get any response, which led to suspicion. Then the security guard informed the Hijli outpost. From there, the police went to the IIT-KGP campus and recovered Harsh’s body from the hostel room. According to police sources, he was hanged with a towel from the ceiling, but his feet were touching the ground. The body has been sent for autopsy.
Deceased student hailed from Jharkhand
The deceased student hailed from Krishnamurti Marg, Ranibagan in Ranchi city of Jharkhand. After completing his M. Tech from Motilal Nehru Institute of Technology in 2024, he came to IIT Kharagpur for research in January 2025. His friends and classmates told police that they did not notice any abnormality in his recent behaviour and he appeared to be quite normal. The police are investigating whether it is a suicide or murder. IIT authorities are tight-lipped about the death of the researcher. The district police have informed that an FIR will be filed as per the Supreme Court’s order.
6th case of student death at IIT Kharagpur this year
Notably, a total of 6 students died unnaturally at IIT Kharagpur campus from January to September this year. Out of them, 5 are reported to have committed suicide. One student died due to a medicine getting choked in his throat.
After the series of deaths, the IIT director took several steps to improve the mental health of the students. He tried to listen to the problems of the students through an app called ‘Setu’. Two separate teams were also formed for regular counselling. But even then the latest death on the campus could not be prevented.