The Calcutta high court has sought an independent forensic expert’s opinion over the likely cause of a 23-year-old Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur student’s death in October. The student’s body was found at the institute’s hostel.
“The post-mortem report, the forensic examination report, and the entire case diary along with photographs and every piece of evidence may be placed before Ajoy Kumar Gupta, a retired forensic expert from the West Bengal CID [Criminal Investigation Department] for his opinion on the likely cause of death,” Justice Rajasekhar Mantha said in his order on Monday.
“It was also argued that the family disturbance in the petitioner’s house could have caused mental disturbance to the victim.’
The court directed the investigating officer to visit Gupta and address the requirements and clarifications the expert may seek. Police will collect Gupta’s report and place it before the court, which will hear the matter again after three weeks.
The parents of the third-year mechanical engineering student, whose semi-decomposed body was found on October 14, moved the high court seeking a court-monitored probe into the death.
They alleged the student from Assam’s Tinsukia was murdered even as police maintained he died by suicide.
Police separately on Monday submitted a report to the court even as its contents were unclear.
The court was also informed that a fresh case has been registered under the Indian Penal Code and West Bengal Prohibition of Ragging in Educational Institutions Act against seven people.
IIT Kharagpur’s lawyer, Anindya Kumar Mitra, told the court the petitioners interfered with the police probe and tarnished the institute’s image through wild allegations
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on October 20 asked his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee to ensure a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death.