Ranchi, Oct. 23: They were roommates and both of them faced the same fate ? death under mysterious circumstances.

Vijay Prakash, known as Kumar Vijay in the BIT register, and Vineet Saurabh Choudhery were not only intimate friends but also they shared Room no. 26 of Hostel no. 1 where the latter was found dead on August 14, said sources at Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra.

Incidentally, Vineet had shifted to the room, allotted to Vijay, a month before his death, reasons for which are yet to be ascertained.

The sources said Vineet, who was denied a room by the authority for ?unknown reasons?, used to stay in the same hostel, but in a different room.

Vijay, a final-year student of production management, was found dead in Room no. 42 of Hostel no. 3 on October 2.

?Earlier, they used to live in the Hostel no. 1. We don?t know for sure when Vijay had shifted to Vineet?s room. But then they lived together for some days. We again don?t know that whether Vijay continued to live on with Vineet or shifted to some other room in the same hostel,? said one of the students at the BIT.

?But after the sudden death of Vineet, who happened to be Vijay?s batchmate, on August 14, Vijay placed an application of a room change and he shifted to Room no. 42 of Hostel no. 3 by end of August. Probably, he did not want to stay in the same room after friend?s death,? said some students.

Some close friends of Vijay also stated that both of them used to live in the same room till Vineet?s death. ?According to the information we have, Vineet did not have a room for himself. The room was not allotted to him under some circumstances. As a result, Vineet used to stay in the room of Vijay,? said the students.

?Both Vineet and Vijay were pretty normal like us. We have not seen or heard them of taking drugs. They, however, used to smoke cigarettes. Vijay was a bit shocked at Vineet?s death. But he was attending classes and talked to us normally,? they said.

The officials, however, could not come up with any concrete answer. ?We would have to check the registers in order to know the details. It is a fact that the student shifted the room anytime without any knowledge of the authorities. The rules do not permit that,? said a BIT official, on condition of anonymity.

?Each of the hostels being very huge, the respective wardens don?t take much pain in checking the status and occupants of the rooms there. It is one of the biggest problems we are facing at present,? added the official.