Govind Tekale
Mumbai Police have registered a first information report and transferred the investigation to the Crime Branch following the death of Sahil Wakode, a second-year BTech student at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, on September 18, 2026. His father has alleged caste-based verbal abuse by a faculty member. IIT Bombay has denied that any disciplinary action was taken against the student.
Wakode, who was enrolled in the Energy Science and Engineering programme, had been caught using a mobile phone during an exam. According to reporting by the Times of India, he had uploaded a question paper to ChatGPT during the exam. His father, Suresh Wakode, alleged that a faculty member named Suryanarayan Dulla subjected his son to caste-based verbal abuse following the incident. Suryanarayan Dulla has not yet made a public statement in response to the allegations, according to reporting reviewed.
IIT Bombay issued a statement saying no disciplinary action was initiated against Wakode following the exam incident, and that the student had been counselled. The institute has not commented further on the specific allegations made by the family.
The FIR registered by Mumbai Police was transferred to the Crime Branch for investigation. The Crime Branch handles cases requiring specialist investigation capacity, including those involving institutional complaints and allegations of discrimination.
What the FIR Does and Does Not Establish
An FIR records the allegations made and triggers a formal investigative process. It does not establish that the alleged events occurred as described. The investigation is ongoing, and no charges have been filed at the time of reporting. The family’s allegations of caste-based abuse will form part of what the Crime Branch examines against the available evidence and witness accounts.
Student protests took place on the IIT Bombay campus following the death, with students raising questions about campus support systems and the institution’s handling of complaints related to caste-based discrimination. Student groups have called for a transparent inquiry into the circumstances.
The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act provides specific legal protections and investigative requirements in cases where caste-based discrimination is alleged. Whether those provisions apply will be determined by the investigation.
Caste-based discrimination on higher-education campuses has been a documented area of concern in India, with multiple institutions facing formal complaints and institutional reviews in recent years. IIT Bombay has faced previous questions about its internal complaint resolution processes, though this specific case is separate from earlier matters.
The Crime Branch investigation is ongoing. No timeline for its conclusion has been officially stated.
