Mumbai: Cops arrest 19-year-old in connection with IIT Bombay student suicide case

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The Mumbai Police's SIT has arrested 19-year-old Arman Iqbal Khatri in connection with the Darshan Solanki suicide case.

The Mumbai Police's SIT, which is probing the death of IIT Bombay student Darshan Solanki, said that Khatri threatened Solanki with a cutter after he made some comments on his religion seven days before he committed suicide.

Also Read: Darshan Solanki death case: Handwriting analysis confirms 'suicide note' written by deceased, claims police

SIT chief Lakhmi Gautam (Joint Commissioner Crime) has confirmed Arman Iqbal Khatri's arrest. The officials have said that the arrest has been made after the report was submitted by handwriting experts confirming that the one-line suicide note matches Solanki's handwriting.

Khatri has been arrested under section 306 (abetment to suicide) and relevant sections of the atrocities act.

Solanki, who hailed from Ahmedabad in Gujarat and was a first-year student of the B Tech (Chemical) course, allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the seventh floor of a hostel building located on the IITB campus in suburban Powai on February 12 this year.

The Mumbai police's SIT recently received a report from a handwriting expert, which said the handwriting in the purported suicide note recovered from the institute's hostel matched the writing samples of the deceased, confirming that it was written by him.

The Maharashtra government had formed the SIT to conduct a probe into Solanki's death.

His family had claimed that he faced discrimination at the premier institute for belonging to a Scheduled Caste (SC) community and suspected foul play in his death. However, the inquiry committee set up by the IITB had ruled out caste-based discrimination and hinted at deteriorating academic performance as a possible cause of suicide.