The investigation into the death of Sahil Wakode, a second-year BTech student at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, has run into a technical wall. Mumbai's Crime Branch has recorded statements from 20 people, yet the digital heart of the evidence remains sealed behind a locked screen. Wakode died by suicide on September 18, hours after an confrontation during a mid-semester examination in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering.
The Digital Dead End
Investigators trying to piece together the final hours of the 20-year-old student face a major hurdle: his iPhone is secured with a pattern or passcode that law enforcement cannot bypass. While notifications for missed calls light up the display, the device remains unreadable. Forensic teams are grappling with limitations in extraction tools for newer Apple models, leaving police blind to outgoing calls, messages, and any search queries made right before or after the exam.
Without this data, reconstructing the timeline relies heavily on testimonies and CCTV footage. The police have recovered his laptop, which is also undergoing forensic analysis, but the phone holds the immediate digital trail of September 18.
The Examination Incident and Missing Testimonies
The tragedy unfolded on the back of an accusation of academic malpractice. During a mid-semester test, Professor Suryanarayana Doolla confronted Wakode over alleged mobile phone use. Security cameras captured portions of the interaction, showing Wakode leaving the hall.
Despite being central to the sequence of events, Professor Doolla’s official statement has not yet been recorded by the Crime Branch. Meanwhile, statements from roughly two dozen individuals—including students present in the exam room, invigilators, and hostel staff—are logged into the case file.
Institutional Scrutiny and Public Outcry
Pressure on the administration intensified as the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) stepped in. NCSC Chairman Kishor Makwana visited the Powai campus, inspecting the examination hall and Wakode's hostel room. The commission demanded that authorities preserve all original electronic evidence, CCTV recordings, and official communications. Wakode belonged to the Scheduled Caste community, and his family has raised serious allegations of harassment and caste-based discrimination.
The family's grief spilled over into public protests, with parents Ravindra and Sonali Wakode staging a brief hunger strike at Azad Maidan to demand the immediate arrest of Prof. Doolla. Though that protest was temporarily paused, political leaders have intervened, and IIT Bombay issued a formal apology regarding conflicting statements in its initial public communications.
An internal 10-member panel appointed by the institute's board of governors is conducting a parallel review. As the Crime Branch waits for cyber forensics to crack the phone encryption, accountability hangs in the balance.
Check the details of the exam hall footage in this video: CCTV footage from IIT Bombay exam hall
This video provides visual context of the events inside the IIT Bombay examination hall on the day of the incident.
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