An IIT Kharagpur research scholar who was found unconscious with multiple injuries near railway tracks close to Kharagpur station early on Sunday died later in the evening.
The scholar, Shravan Kumar, was pursuing a PhD with the Centre for Ocean, River, Atmosphere and Land Sciences (CORAL). He was from Andhra Pradesh and lived in the Meghnad Saha Hall of Residence.
An IIT official said Shravan was discovered with severe injuries around 3am near the tracks and was first taken to BC Roy Technology Hospital on campus. GRP personnel, who found him, alerted the institute’s security staff.
“He was transferred to Peerless Hospital in Calcutta by 9am on Sunday. Despite all efforts, he passed away on Sunday evening. The research scholar community is deeply saddened and in shock,” the official said.
It remains unclear why the third-year scholar, who had also completed his MTech at IIT Kharagpur, was near the railway tracks at that hour.
An IIT teacher described him as “bright and obedient” and said the circumstances leading to his death were not known.
IIT director Suman Chakraborty, currently in the US, said in a message to Metro: “What has happened is extremely shocking. It seems this happened when he went out of the campus.”
Shravan’s death comes amid a series of deaths at IIT Kharagpur this year. Six students — two research scholars and four BTech students — have died since January.
On September 20, first-year PhD scholar Harsh Kumar Pandey, 26, from Ranchi, was found hanging in his hostel room at BR Ambedkar Hall.
Ritam Mondal, 21, a fourth-year student, was found hanging at Rajendra Prasad Hall on July 18; Md Asif Quamar, a third-year civil engineering student, died by suicide during a video call on May 4; Aniket Walkar, a fourth-year BTech student, was found hanging at JC Bose Hall on April 20; and Shaon Malik, a third-year electrical engineering student, was found hanging at Azad Hall on January 12.
In a message to fellow students, the research scholar representatives urged the community to support one another: “Please look out for one another… we are here to help.”
