IIT-Bombay student caught using phone during exam, Prof Doolla escorts him out: Exclusive video

Exclusive CCTV footage shows IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode using a mobile phone during an examination before a professor escorted him out. The video adds to a disputed case that later triggered protests, an SC/ST Act complaint and scrutiny of campus procedures.

In Short

• Professor Doolla approached Wakode after allegedly noticing phone use mid-examination
• The professor took his paper and asked him to step outside
• Students later protested, demanding an independent inquiry into the events

In an exclusive video accessed by India Today, Sahil Wakode, the IIT Bombay student who later died by suicide after allegedly being caught cheating during an examination on September 18, can be seen inside the examination hall in CCTV footage from the examination centre. The footage shows Wakode seated during the examination and using his mobile phone while the paper was in progress.

Professor Doolla is then seen approaching Wakode after noticing him using the phone. The professor takes the examination paper and answer sheet from him and asks him to accompany him outside the examination hall.

In the closing moments of the footage, Wakode can be seen being escorted out of the examination room by the professor.

The video also shows other students seated in the examination hall, taking their exams as they witnessed the final moments involving Sahil Wakode and Professor Doolla.

So far, no testimony from anyone present in the hall has emerged. None of the students who were there have spoken to the media or publicly shared their account of what happened.

The video comes as the case is being investigated by the crime branch of Mumbai Police following an FIR filed by Wakode's parents against the IIT Bombay director and Professor Doolla.

The crime branch investigation is ongoing, and several key aspects of the case are yet to be established. The investigation will examine the circumstances surrounding the examination incident and what followed.

WHAT FOLLOWED THE EXAMINATION INCIDENT

The circumstances surrounding what followed have since become the subject of a wider dispute.

Wakode’s death prompted protests at IIT Bombay, with students calling for an independent inquiry into the events leading up to his death and seeking changes in the institute’s disciplinary and student-welfare procedures.

Wakode’s parents have also filed a police complaint invoking provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, alleging discrimination against their son.

The allegations are subject to investigation, and the CCTV footage by itself does not establish what occurred after Wakode left the examination hall.

The newly accessed footage, however, provides a visual account of the moments inside the examination centre before he was taken outside, adding another piece of evidence to a case that has raised questions about examination procedures, disciplinary action and student welfare at the institute.

- Ends