Darshan Solanki’s father demands murder FIR

Mumbai: On Friday, the father of Darshan Solanki, the first-year BTech student from IIT Bombay (IIT-B) who died by suicide on February 12, had a meeting with Lakhmi Gautam, joint commissioner of police, crime branch in presence of former MP Bhalchandra Mungekar

Mumbai: On Friday, the father of Darshan Solanki, the first-year BTech student from IIT Bombay (IIT-B) who died by suicide on February 12, had a meeting with Lakhmi Gautam, joint commissioner of police, crime branch in presence of former MP Bhalchandra Mungekar. In the meeting, Darshan’s father Ramesh, who believes that his son’s death was a result of caste discrimination, demanded that an FIR be filed in the matter.

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On Thursday Solanki submitted a complaint at the Powai police station then he was directed to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Maharashtra government for the investigation. On Thursday and Friday, SIT took the statements of Solanki’s family members. After this Solanki, along with Darshan’s mother Tarlika, sister Janhvi, his aunt, and Mungekar, met Gautam.

“In this meeting, I requested to register an FIR, but joint CP guided me not to do this as they were doing an investigation thoroughly,” said Solanki. “Now we will decide our further course of action after having discussions with my family member,” he added. “I requested SIT to do this investigation in all possible ways, and allow a family to file FIR as per the supreme court order, “Mungekar said

When HT asked Gautam about this meeting, he said, “I asked the family to meet, and they came into the office and met me. Their points have been noted down, and the purpose of meeting them is that if they have any doubts, it is required to listen, inquire, and clear their doubts. We are conducting an inquiry, and necessary action will be taken based on the findings of the inquiry.”

VBA demands the welfare of the SC-ST community at IITB

On Friday, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) protested in front of the IITB main gate demanding the immediate resignation of the director of IITB. VBA state spokesperson Siddarth Mokal and other representatives wrote a letter to the IIT administration stating that the institute should consider reforming and reducing the burden of students by ensuring the welfare of the SC-ST community at IIT-B, strengthening the students’ wellness centre, and planning academic programmes.