In a major development in the suicide case of IIT Bombay second-year BTech student Sahil Wakode, police are reported to have said that Wakode did not step out of his room after around 1:30 PM and told his girlfriend that he had made a mistake.
Mumbai Police are now trying to reconstruct the events that took place in the hours before his death. Investigators are particularly looking into what happened after Wakode returned to his room on Friday, 18th September, after he was caught cheating during his mid-semester examination.
Sources told CNN-News18 that he spoke to his girlfriend at around 2:30 PM. During the call, he told her that he had made a mistake and appeared to be under stress.
“Mujhse galti ho gayi hai [I have made a mistake,” Sahil Wakode told his girlfriend, according to the police account. He also spoke about his earlier Thermodynamics paper and said, “My earlier thermodynamics paper didn’t go well, and now this has happened.”
THE LAST CALL: “MUJHSE GALTI HO GAYI HAI”
— Rahul Shivshankar (@RShivshankar) September 23, 2026
Highly placed Mumbai crime branch sources have told @kotakyesha
that the probe is focussing on a call made by IIT-B student Sahil at 2:30 PM. At that time the victim spoke to his girlfriend and told her: “Mujhse galti ho gayi hai.” He…
Police sources said Wakode was confused and stressed during the conversation. His girlfriend asked him to stay calm and patient and encouraged him to focus on his upcoming papers instead of worrying about the situation.
No mention of caste discrimination during the last call
Investigators are also examining the contents of Wakode’s last known conversation with his girlfriend. According to police sources, there was no mention of any caste-related conversation during the call.
Police believe this was the last time Wakode spoke to his girlfriend. After the conversation, he stopped answering her calls. Investigators are now trying to establish what happened between this conversation and his death.
Wakode died by suicide on Friday evening, hours after he was caught cheating during a mid-semester examination and using ChatGPT to get answers. Police are examining whether the examination incident and the pressure surrounding it played a role in the events that followed.
However, the investigation is still underway, and police have not yet concluded the circumstances that led to his death.
IIT Bombay forms 10-member committee
Meanwhile, IIT Bombay’s Board of Governors has formed a 10-member committee to look into the circumstances surrounding Wakode’s death. The panel includes faculty members, students, a former vigilance officer and a psychiatrist.
Prof Suryanarayana Doolla, who has been named in the case, has been asked to go on leave while the matter is being examined.
The committee has been asked to submit its report within a week. The Board of Governors has also considered the demands raised by students and is learnt to have accepted most of them, except those seeking resignations. The committee’s report is expected to shed more light on the circumstances surrounding Wakode’s death and the concerns raised by students following the incident.
