Kota, Mar 25 (PTI): A 17-year-old medical aspirant allegedly hanged himself from an iron rod in his hostel room in Kota’s Jawahar Nagar area on Tuesday, police said.

This is the ninth case of suspected suicide by a coaching student in Kota since January.

Harshraj Shankar, a native of Bihar’s Nalanda district, had been preparing for the medical entrance exam in a coaching institute here since April last year, they said.

After being informed by the hostel caretaker that this afternoon that the boy had bolted the door from inside and was not responding, a police team reached the spot, Jawahar Nagar SHO Ramlaxman.

The team broke open the room door and found the boy hanging to an iron rod, he added.

The ceiling fan in the hostel room was equipped with “anti-suicide devise”. So, the NEET aspirant arranged an iron rod to hang himself, the police said.

No suicide note was recovered from the spot, the SHO said, adding that the body has been shifted to the mortuary of a hospital and a post-mortem would be conducted after the arrival of his parents who have been informed.

A probe is underway.

This is the ninth student suicide this year that took place in the city famous for its being a coaching hub. Six coaching students -- five JEE, one NEET -- killed themselves in January alone.

Seventeen coaching students died by suicide in Kota in 2024. In 2023, the number stood at 26.

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Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation will operate 1000 additional special services in view of the Christmas festival.

In addition to the existing schedule, the special services will run on 19.12.2025, 20.12.2025 and 24.12.2025. Further, special buses will be operated from various places of intra & Interstate places to Bengaluru on 26.12.2025 & 28.12.2025.

Special buses will be exclusively operated from Bengaluru Kempegowda Bus Station to Dharmastala, Kukkesubramanya, Shivamogga, Hassan, Mangaluru, Kundapura, Shringeri, Horanadu, Davangere, Hubbali, Dharwad, Belagavi, Vijayapura, Gokarna, Sirsi, Karwar, Raichur, Kalaburagi, Ballari, Koppala, Yadgir, Bidar, Tirupathi, Vijayawada, Hyderabad and other places.

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Special buses from Mysuru Road Bus Station will be exclusively operated towards Mysuru, Hunsur, Piriyapatna, Virajpet, Kushalanagar, Madikeri.

The corporation has also announced a discount of 5 per cent on the fare if four or more passengers book tickets under a single reservation. A discount of 10 per cent will be extended on return journey tickets if onward and return tickets are booked simultaneously.

In addition to the above, special buses will be operated from all Taluk/District Bus Stands in the jurisdiction of KSRTC based on the traffic needs.