Students celebrating Holi on the campus of the National Institute of Juridical Sciences last Friday saw boarder Vikas Chaudhary climb the railing on the third-floor balcony of the boys' hostel minutes before he was found fatally injured below, police said.
The statements of five students were individually recorded on Monday, a day after 19-year-old Vikas's father Yogendra Singh lodged a complaint saying that his son was the victim of a 'brutal murder'.
'All the students corroborated each other, saying Vikas climbed the nearly 4.5ft high railing himself and sat on it,' said a police officer probing the case.
Some of the students who saw the teenager climbing the railing were on the same floor while a few were playing Holi in the courtyard. Those who were downstairs told investigators that they had gestured to Vikas to move away from the railing because it was dangerous to sit on it.
But none of the students that the police interrogated admitted to seeing the 19-year-old student falling to the ground from the third-floor balcony.
'Since a murder case has been started on the basis of the complaint lodged by the deceased's father, we are exploring all angles,' said Jawed Shamim, commissioner of Bidhannagar City Police. 'There were more than 100 students on the campus when the incident took place. We need to talk to more students to see whether everyone is coming out with the same statement.'
An investigator said the most crucial piece of information was how Vikas fell to his death.
BSF officer Singh's complaint with Bidhannagar South police station states that his son had been 'depressed' and 'afraid of his seniors'.
According to police sources, before climbing the railing, Vikas was seen playing Holi with friends.
A team of forensic experts visited the hostel on Monday and collected samples from the spot where Vikas was found bleeding and unconscious. They also picked samples from his room (No. 127) on the first floor.
'His roommate told us that Vikas looked dazed. The roommate asked him if everything was fine, but he didn't respond. He left the room in a hurry and went to the third floor,' a police officer said.
The post-mortem showed that Vikas had fractured his skull and suffered multiple spinal cord injuries. No trace of alcohol was found in his stomach.
The police have sent his blood samples for further tests to ascertain the presence of other substances.
On Sunday, Vikas's father told Metro that his son had been 'ragged and murdered by some seniors'. Singh's complaint doesn't mention that he suspects 'seniors' of killing his son.
'We have yet to come across any evidence about a link between ragging and the boy's death. We have spoken to other first-year students, none of whom has yet said anything about ragging,' the police said.
Vikas's family took his body to Delhi on Monday en route to their ancestral home in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, where the last rites were performed in the evening.
The post-mortem showed that Vikas had fractured his skull and suffered multiple spinal cord injuries. No trace of alcohol was found in his stomach.
The police have sent his blood samples for further tests to ascertain the presence of other substances.
On Sunday, Vikas's father told Metro that his son had been 'ragged and murdered by some seniors'. Singh's complaint doesn't mention that he suspects 'seniors' of killing his son.
'We have yet to come across any evidence about a link between ragging and the boy's death. We have spoken to other first-year students, none of whom has yet said anything about ragging,' the police said.
Vikas's family took his body to Delhi on Monday en route to their ancestral home in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, where the last rites were performed in the evening.
Taxi drivers
Members of the Bengal Taxi Association, a forum of taxi owners, met transport secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay on Monday and submitted a memorandum with a list of demands, including taxi stands on important thoroughfares, facilities for the drivers to take rest and freshen up, among others.
