A first-year student from Kerala was found dead in front of a hostel on the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) campus on Monday morning.
Joss Jebin, 18, is believed to have fallen from the terrace of the seven-storey hostel building.
“It is a case of falling from a height. We visited the spot and did not find any foul play. Preliminary investigation has revealed that the student had sent a text message to one of his acquaintances in college in which he sounded a bit depressed,” said an officer of the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate.
“The cause of why he wrote that way has yet to be ascertained. It is yet to be ascertained whether the fall was accidental or suicidal in nature,” the officer said.
The student’s body will undergo a post-mortem on Tuesday, police said.
An officer of the Bidhannagar South police station said they would speak to his parents once they arrive. “So far, a case of unnatural death has been registered. We will speak to the parents and try to get their version. No complaint has been lodged till now,” the officer said on Monday evening.
Jebin, a first-year BSc LLB student, was from Kochi.
NUJS registrar Raja Chakraborty said the student had breakfast at the mess with his friends early in the day.
He was found dead around 7am.
An NUJS official said they heard a sound from the ground in front of the boys’ hostel around 7am.
“As we neared the spot, we saw Jebin on the ground in a pool of blood. When we took him to the Bidhannagar sub-divisional hospital, doctors pronounced him dead,” the official said.
The student, who enrolled in the five-year integrated BSc LLB programme last year, was scheduled to write his first-year end-semester exam beginning April 17.
“He had taken part in cultural events held last week,” a university official said.
The registrar ruled out any possibility of ragging. He also denied any suggestion that the student was under academic pressure.
“We are awaiting the police probe report. Once that comes, the institute is expected to issue a release,” an NUJS official said.
In 2015, a student was found dead on the NUJS campus. That student had also fallen from a height and died.