New Delhi: An IIT Delhi student from Bengal's Hooghly district was found hanging in his hostel room early on Friday, three days after he had overdosed on sleeping pills.

IIT officials and students said there had been no indication that Gopal Maloo, 21, a first-year MSc student of chemistry, was depressed before he took the pills.

Two of Gopal's roommates spotted him hanging from the ceiling fan. He had been discharged from hospital on Thursday after two days of treatment for overdosing on sleeping pills.

Police said Maloo had been admitted to Safdarjung Hospital.

"His brother Bachoo Ram had stayed with him and counselled him. The reason for his suicide is being looked into," the police said in a statement.

T.R. Sreekrishnan, dean of students affairs, said Maloo was a bright student. "He had secured 7.2 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) in the first semester. He had been given admission on the basis of good performance in the Joint Admission Test conducted by the IITs," Sreekrishnan said.

The dean said there had been no sign of depression in him till he attempted suicide on Tuesday. The student had never visited the counselling centre on the campus, Sreekrishnan said.

His brother had been with him till late on Thursday before returning to his accommodation in Delhi.

Two hostel inmates said Maloo kept to himself most of the time.

Sreekrishnan said it was difficult to identify the reasons for stress of individuals among 7,000 students on the campus unless they came up with complaints.

The suicide rate among students has been on the rise since 2014, according to National Crime Records Bureau data. While 8,068 students had committed suicide in 2014, the number increased to 8,934 in 2015, and 9,474 in 2016.