IIT Bombay has suspended Professor Suryanarayana Doolla, dean of administrative affairs, after the death of 22-year-old student Sahil Ravindra Wakode, campus protests and a police case alleging caste-based remarks and harassment. The suspension took effect immediately, according to a statement attributed to institute director Shirish B. Kedare.
Wakode was found dead in Hostel 4 on the evening of 18 September 2026. The source report describes the death as a suicide. His family has alleged that caste-based comments and harassment were involved, allegations that are now part of a police investigation and have not been established by a final inquiry.
The institute said further action would be taken only after an investigation. Doolla has been named in a First Information Report registered at Mumbai Police’s Powai station on the basis of a complaint filed by Wakode’s father, Ravindra Wakode. The complaint alleges caste-based remarks and harassment by the professor.
According to the report, Doolla was serving as an invigilator during a mid-semester examination when Wakode was allegedly found using a mobile phone. The source does not provide the full text of the FIR or details of the specific allegations recorded by police beyond the claims of caste-based remarks and harassment.
The suspension followed protests by students at the IIT Bombay campus. Students had demanded action against Doolla after Wakode’s death, and the institute was also forced to cancel its mid-semester examinations, according to the report. The protests took place at the campus’s main gate, where director Shirish Kedare met students.
IIT Bombay has separately denied claims that Kedare resigned over the incident. The claims followed the director’s signing of a paper while meeting protesting students, which was interpreted by some as an assurance that he would resign on 21 September. The institute rejected that interpretation and said the director had not stepped down.
The case has revived scrutiny of how India’s premier technical institutions respond to allegations of caste discrimination, student distress and administrative accountability. The report also refers to the earlier death of IIT Bombay student Darshan Solanki, in a case where caste-based comments and discrimination were cited as issues. It does not establish that the two cases had identical circumstances or causes.
Mumbai Police are investigating Wakode’s death and the allegations in the FIR. IIT Bombay’s next formal step, according to the institute’s position reported here, will depend on the outcome of its internal inquiry and the police investigation.
