Assam: IIT-Kharagpur student Faizan Ahmed was ‘stabbed and shot’

GUWAHATI: Nearly two years after the mysterious death of IIT-Kharagpur student from Assam, Faizan Ahmed, new evidence has emerged confirming he was murdered.

A recent forensic report, ordered by the Calcutta high court and conducted by Dr AK Gupta, reveals a gunshot wound and a stab wound on Faizan’s neck, overturning previous suggestions of suicide.

The expert’s detailed analysis, submitted to the court in May this year, indicates a gunshot wound on the upper left side of Faizan’s neck and a stab wound on the right.

These critical injuries were not documented during the initial police investigation nor during the first autopsy performed at Midnapore medical college in October 2022.

Dr Gupta’s second autopsy report, however, reveals these injuries and further notes human blood on Faizan’s nail cuttings, hair strands, spine, mandible, and back muscles.

Faizan Ahmed, a 23-year-old third-year mechanical engineering student from Tinsukia district in Assam, was found dead in an unassigned room at Lala Lajpat Rai Hostel of IIT-Kharagpur on October 14, 2022.

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Initially, his death was ruled a suicide, but his family alleged foul play, citing instances of ragging he had reported on campus.

Following pleas from Faizan’s mother, the Calcutta high court ordered a special investigation team (SIT) to re-examine the case.

In May 2023, the court ordered exhumation of Faizan’s body for a second autopsy, which ultimately revealed the signs of murder.

The forensic examination conducted by Dr Gupta disclosed additional critical findings. The right temporal bone of Faizan's skull was missing, aligning with initial photographs of his body, and the report definitively ruled out poisoning as a cause of death.

Despite these revelations, the investigation faces significant challenges. The initial police response and investigation were criticized for being inadequate.

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Faizan’s body was found three days after his death, in a decomposed state, and the initial autopsy lacked the details now uncovered.

Moreover, it was only in February 2023, months after the incident, that police registered a ragging case, leading to the surrender and subsequent bail of six individuals, including students and staff.

The Calcutta high court has reprimanded IIT Kharagpur’s administration for not acting on Faizan’s complaints of ragging.

Aniruddha Mitra, the family’s lawyer, has accused both the police and the institute of trying to cover up the murder.

“Without investigation, police tried to turn it into a suicide case, and till date the investigation is being done on the basis of the first post-mortem, even though the court had directed police not to do so,” he said.

Mitra also criticized the lack of CCTV surveillance and the institute's failure to act on Faizan’s complaints of abuse and ragging.