IIT suicide case: ‘Cutter’ seized from accused; cops likely to seek extension for remand

In a dramatic development on Wednesday in the case of the alleged suicide of 18-year-old IIT Bombay student Darshan Solanki, the special investigation team (SIT) led by Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Lakhmi Gautam seized a paper cutter from the hostel room of Arman Iqbal Khatri, who was arrested on April 9 on the charge of abetment to suicide. “The cutter is of the type used by students to cut paper,” a police source told the FPJ.

Arman and Darshan had a quarrel, former pointed a cutter at deceased

Darshan had allegedly ended his life by jumping from the seventh floor of his hostel building on February 12. Earlier, it was alleged by the Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle unit in the Powai campus that Darshan was a victim of caste discrimination; an allegation which was ruled out by both the SIT and the IIT management, which probed the case.

It is learnt that on February 9, Darshan and Arman, who lived in the same wing of the hostel, had a quarrel, during which the latter reportedly pointed a cutter at Darshan. 

Khatri not cooperating with probe: SIT sources

Sources in the SIT said Khatri was not cooperating with the probe and hence they were planning to subject him to narcoanalysis and a lie-detector test. These tests, however, can be conducted only with the consent of the accused. The cutter was discovered only on Tuesday evening, though the SIT has been questioning Khatri for the past few weeks. Darshan had named Khatri in his suicide note, which was not found by the Powai police but by the SIT, on March 3.

Police sources have claimed that on February 9, Solanki and Khatri had a verbal argument for almost 45 minutes. “Towards the end of their argument, Khatri allegedly pointed a cutter and threatened Solanki, which may have put immense pressure on the latter,” said a police source, adding that Solanki was already sensitive about his deteriorating academic performance in his course.

Cutter to be used as evidence against Khatri; cops to seek extension of remand

On Tuesday, police took Khatri back to his hostel room at IIT Bombay, to look for this alleged cutter. In the presence of other witnesses and Khatri, the SIT found the cutter from his room, which will now be used as evidence against him, police sources revealed.

Furthermore, Khatri, currently remanded in police custody to cooperate in the ongoing investigation, is not doing so, sources informed.

On Thursday, he will be presented in court as his remand duration comes to an end. “We are aiming to extend his remand custody, as he hasn’t cooperated with us yet. We will also be seeking approval from the court to conduct narco and lie detector tests on the accused, to get more information about what exactly happened between the two (Khatri and Solanki) before the day of Solanki’s suicide,” a police source added.

'Suicide note' recovered by SIT

On March 3, the SIT said it had recovered a ‘suicide note’ from Solanki's hostel room, which read: ‘Arman has killed me’. Following this, an FIR was registered in the case. Forensic handwriting analysis confirmed that the writing on the suicide note was Khatri’s. On April 9. Khatri was arrested by the SIT for alleged abetment to suicide in the case.

While revisiting the crime scene, Solanki's hostel room, the police has now found six tubes of cream which are yet unknown to them. “Those will be sent for analysis as everything we recover will help us in the case,” added the source.