IIT Bombay student suicide case: Mumbai court grants bail to accused Arman Khatri

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 6 : A special court in Mumbai on Saturday granted bail to Arman Khatri, an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay student who was arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of fellow student Darshan Solanki.

Khatri has been granted bail on a bond of Rs 25,000.

Earlier in April, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Mumbai Crime Branch police arrested Arman Iqbal Khatri on the basis of a suicide note recovered from the hostel room of the deceased, Darshan Solanki, in which he blamed Arman for him taking the extreme step of ending his life.

"Arman has killed me", the suicide note read.

Mumbai Police's SIT officers said that during interrogation accused Arman was not answering the questions properly and wasn't telling much. Arman will be presented before the court today.

Darshan Solanki allegedly died by suicide at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay by jumping off the seventh floor of a hostel building located on the campus on February 12 this year, a day after his semester exams ended.

On March 3, a special investigation team (SIT) formed by Mumbai Police stumbled upon a "suicide note" in his hostel room in which the deceased had accused one student of harassing and threatening him.

According to the police, "The handwriting expert said in his report that the suicide note recovered by the police is written by Darshan Solanki. The expert sent the report to the police on Thursday night."

On March 29, the father of Solanki wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM-Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar alleging that his family is facing harassment from the police for registering an FIR into the death of his son.

Solanki was originally from Ahmedabad and was pursuing B Tech at IIT Bombay.

Solanki's family earlier alleged foul play in his death and claimed that he faced discrimination at the IITB for belonging to a Scheduled Caste (SC) community.

Darshan's father, Ramesh Solanki, further requested the authorities to take action against the police.

Following demands for a detailed probe by his parents, on February 28, the case was transferred to the city crime branch SIT.