Rose Dutta, a relative of Subhojit. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

A fifth-year MBBS student of Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College hanged himself at his Entally residence after staying up late on Sunday to study for the final paper of a semester examination.

Subhojit Dutta, 24, had shown no sign of examination stress and engaged in “normal conversation” over dinner with his parents and a relative before retiring to his room around 10.30pm on Sunday, the police said.

He was found hanging from a rope fastened to a ventilator grille at 7.30am. “Subhojit did not leave a suicide note. So, as of now, we don’t have a clue why he killed himself,” said Vineet Goyal, the deputy commissioner of police (headquarters).

A few strips of tablets and bottles of syrup were found on the bed in his room. “Subhojit was supposed to leave home for college at 9am to sit for the exam. When he didn’t wake up till 7.30am, Subhojit’s mother thought he might have overslept because he was studying till 2.30am. Little did she know that he was no more,” said Rose Dutta, the relative who was at the dinner table with him on Sunday.

“He was such a bright student,” she added.

Rose, an aunt of Subhojit’s father, stays in an apartment block adjacent to the family’s Palmer Bazar Road house. Subhojit’s father Sovan Dutta is a lawyer and his mother a homemaker. His younger brother is studying to be a chartered accountant.

An officer at Entally police station ruled out foul play. “It’s a suicide, though we are yet to find out the possible reasons for it. We have not been able to question the family members because none of them is in a condition to talk.”

Classes were suspended at NRS Medical College and Hospital and the examination slated for Monday was cancelled because of Subhojit’s death. “Some students informed me about the suicide and requested me to suspend classes and cancel the examination. I waited for confirmation of the incident before doing so,” said Ashok Mondal, the principal of the institution.

A student of Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, Anupam Dutta, had killed himself by jumping in front of a train at Central station of Metro Railway on September 8.