Faizan Ahmed’s Murder: Death Of An IITian’s Dream

Kolkata: Faizan Ahmed, the third-year IIT Kharagpur Mechanical engineering student was holder of 11th rank in JEE, 2020. He had a dream to study at Sundar Pichai’s IIT– Kharagpur, so even when he could get admission to any of the IITs in India, he chose to study at IIT Kharagpur. But, before completing his four-year course, the genius, who was also enrolled in two research teams in IIT-KGP, was brutally killed inside the campus on October 11, 2022.

However, IIT authorities and Kharagpur Police claimed that Faizan committed suicide. Their family did not buy their claim. However, the authorities and police did not cooperate with them and claimed that Faizan had committed suicide. The family moved to Calcutta High Court. Here police could not justify its claim that Faizan committed suicide. The first postmortem report was inconclusive. The court ordered a second autopsy and attached retired forensic expert Dr Rajiv Gupta to conduct it under his supervision. Later both the division and single bench of the court confirmed that the 23-year-old Faizan was murdered and constituted a Special Investigative Team (SIT) led by senior IPS K Jayaraman to probe further.

It has been more than a year, his family is awaiting justice. Meanwhile, Faizan’s shocking murder was not only neglected by IIT Authorities, West Bengal Police, media, and civil society but by the only female chief minister of India– Mamata Banerjee too.

Rehana Ahmed, mother of Faizan appealed as well as wrote to CM Banerjee and the West Bengal Minority Commission too to intervene so IIT authorities, which has created hurdles for the family in getting justice could not do it in future. But all went in vain.

“Had I not sent my son to IIT Kharagpur, I would not have lost my only child. But he was adamant to study where Sundar Pichai had studied. It was his dream to study from there but Faizan’s dream has been shattered,” rued Rehana.