Maharashtra: SIT formed for probe into death of IITB student
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has formed a special investigation team (SIT) headed by a senior police officer to conduct a probe into the alleged suicide of an 18-year-old student of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, a police official said on Tuesday.
Darshan Solanki, who hailed from Ahmedabad in Gujarat and was a first-year student of B Tech (Chemical) course at the IITB, allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the seventh floor of a hostel building located on the campus on February 12.
His family had claimed he faced discrimination at the IITB for belonging to a Scheduled Caste community and suspected foul play in his death.
Gujarat Congress MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani had demanded a probe by the SIT into Solanki's death, terming the episode as "suspicious".
On February 24, the government had ordered a probe into Solanki's death, the official said.
The SIT, headed by Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Lakhmi Gautam, will revisit the case and record the statements of Solanki's parents, officials of the institute and students who were witness to the incident, he said.
It will also conduct a probe into the allegations made by various student groups that Solanki faced caste discrimination, he said.
After Solanki's death, the Powai police here had registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) and recorded the statements of multiple people, including IITB students.
"Now, the SIT will conduct a probe into the case," the official added.
A Mumbai Police team on February 16 visited Gujarat to record the statements of Solanki's parents.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
ALSO READ: Slain Australia beach shooting suspect native of Hyderabad: T'gana police
Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
