Student accused of scam jumps to death

A 21-year-old student of Ramjas College jumped to his death on Friday - 10 days after a first information report (FIR) was registered against him in a fake marksheet scam that surfaced in October. HT reports.

A 21-year-old student of Ramjas College jumped to his death on Friday - 10 days after a first information report (FIR) was registered against him in a fake marksheet scam that surfaced in October.

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The incident happened after Akhil Gupta, a BA economics student at Ramjas College till a month ago, was booked as an accused in the forged marksheet scam and his admission was cancelled by college authorities.

Depressed after a string of allegations, Gupta ended his life by jumping off the terrace of his double storey house in Paschim Vihar's Mianwali Nagar, the police said.

"The stigma of the scam could be the reason behind him taking this drastic step. We are investigating all angles," a senior police officer said.

An FIR was lodged against Gupta and 27 other accused by the principal of Ramjas college, at the Maurice Nagar police station in north Delhi on November 15.

"He jumped to his death from the terrace of his house on Friday morning. His father discovered his body lying in a pool of blood on the street. He was immediately rushed to Action Balaji hospital, where he was declared brought dead by doctors. No suicide note was recovered," the officer added.

A case of cheating and forgery under sections 420, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code was registered against the accused for submitting a forged marksheet and a fake provisional certificate.

The documents were forged to inflate the marks of the students in order to reach the cut-offs released by the college.

Gupta's father, Ashok Gupta - whose statement has been recorded by the police - runs a shoe manufacturing factory in Mangolpuri area in outer Delhi.