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The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has launched a detailed investigation into the death of a second-year B.Tech student, Sahil, at IIT Bombay by scanning campus CCTV footage to reconstruct the sequence of events. The investigation focuses on recordings from the examination hall, campus grounds, and hostel areas from 18 September. The development comes amid intense campus unrest with opposing perspectives emerging. While protesters and the student's family demand justice along with an independent Central Bureau of Investigation probe into allegations of caste-based harassment, the IIT Bombay Faculty Forum and faculty from IIT Madras and IIT Delhi have come out in support of invigilator Professor Suryanarayan Dula. The faculty representatives maintain that prescribed examination procedures were strictly adhered to after suspected academic malpractice was observed, dismissing allegations of discrimination as baseless. Institute director Shirish Kedare continues dialogue with students to address concerns and resolve tensions on campus.

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00:00I have news coming in from IIT Bombay. Let's take a look at that.
00:04We want justice! We want justice! We want justice!
00:09We want justice! We want justice!
00:25From IIT Bombay, the latest I have is that the crime branch is now scanning
00:29the CCTV footage because that will then help discover the final moment about what happened
00:35that led to this young student, a second-year student of BTEC,
00:39to take that extreme step at such a prestigious organization
00:42for which he must have studied very hard over years
00:46to be able to get into IIT Bombay.
00:49And was this one incident simply that led him to take the extreme step?
00:54What kind of humiliation was he worried about?
00:57We are told that protests continue over IIT Bombay's suicide shocker,
01:01but there are two kinds of protests right now.
01:03One is a stir seeking justice for the student Sahil.
01:07There is massive sloganeering on the streets of Mumbai.
01:09Justice for Sahil placards are being seen at the protest.
01:12There are protesters gathering outside IIT Bombay.
01:15But there's also, interestingly, support coming in from the faculty and the student groups
01:21for the IIT Bombay professor, Professor Surinara and Doola.
01:25According to them, the action taken against him is also unfair.
01:30Mustafa Sheikh is joining me for the latest on this ON Newsbreak.
01:33Mustafa, what is the latest we have?
01:35You think the protests are spreading on the streets?
01:38And one, and two, how is the crime branch looking at CCTV as perhaps a crucial lead?
01:48Well, yes, the number of students which had come out in support of Sahil
01:52were much more two days earlier.
01:54But now we are told that inside this campus of Bombay IIT,
01:57where we are standing right outside,
01:59there are only few, four to five people are now sitting in support.
02:02Now, a few things have happened since then.
02:05One, the director, Shirish Kedare,
02:08has been continuously in communication with the students,
02:11trying to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
02:14The second, the faculty members have come out in support of Professor Doola.
02:19A lot of students were coming out of Bombay IIT,
02:21saying that what has happened is unfortunate,
02:25but if we investigated, the institute should not be defamed.
02:29The CCTV is what is a very important clue for the crime branch
02:33because whatever has happened,
02:35they assume has happened on September 18th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
02:42It is in the examination and he going inside his hostel room
02:45and never coming out.
02:46So for that, the CCTV has been retrieved,
02:49they are going through it,
02:50and once they have all the details and documents in place,
02:53they will record statements of the relevant people back to you.
02:55Alright, Mustafa will be tracking all the latest on that.
02:57Our Mumbai Bureau is trying to gather all the information possible in this case.
03:01But what is so significant about this case?
03:04Why is this not being seen as simply an open and shut case?
03:07Well, the reason for that is two sharply contrasting positions have been taken.
03:12And on the news break, I am going to tell you
03:14what precisely are two extreme positions.
03:17However, there is sort of one point of understanding on this,
03:22which is the death of the student was extremely tragic, possibly avoidable.
03:26But is the teacher responsible for his death?
03:29That is why, one, there are protests happening,
03:32asking for justice for Sahil.
03:34His family is alleging that CBI probe must be done in this case.
03:37There must be an independent investigation.
03:39But then there is another kind of support that is coming in for Professor Dula.
03:43And that is where the faculty members and several students are also saying,
03:47while the terrible tragedy did take place of the student and of his death,
03:51but can the professor be facing action over that?
03:54Now, the CCTV footage of the examination hall is being seized.
03:58That shows possibly where Sahil was.
04:02The footage shows from inside the examination hall that Sahil was seen chatting.
04:08The video shows that Sahil is being taken out of the examination hall.
04:13There was a charge that there could have been a certain malpractice allegation against him
04:18that happened during the exam of which Professor Surin Arayindula was the invigilator.
04:22Crime branch teams have begun a detailed scan of the CCTV at the IIT Bombay.
04:27And officials say footage from the hall, campus, grounds, hostel, other areas is being examined.
04:31In the tapes reviewed so far, student Sahil is seen walking towards the hostel
04:36from the examination hall, but is not seen leaving the hostel afterward.
04:41The crime branch will now use that timeline to reconstruct the last moment.
04:45Sahil's family has questioned what happened inside the hall,
04:48alleging caste-based harassment, demanding responsibility be fixed after a full probe.
04:53But IIT Bombay Faculty Forum is rallying behind Professor Dula
04:57and stating that he did what was a prescribed procedure as a professor
05:02and therefore the forum is objecting to what it calls false and misleading claims against him.
05:07Support has also come in from sister organizations.
05:10IIT Madras and IIT Delhi faculty with academics are backing Dula
05:14and stressing that the need for a fair examination of the circumstances must be drawn.
05:19President of the IIT Bombay Faculty Forum, Professor Dr. Rajkumar Pant,
05:23spoke to India Today's Consulting Editor, Rajdeep Sardisai.
05:43IIT Madras and IIT Madras and IIT Madras
06:23the
06:24In this case, I told my father that this is going to happen with me.
06:30So, my father told me that you have to take care of me.
06:33This is why we don't have any meaning for this.
06:36You have to take care of yourself.
06:39You should have to take care of the CBI.
06:43And whoever is involved in this case, they should give them the best.
06:48They should get the best of all of our children.
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