Arnab’s Lead: IIT-B Needs Total Facts, Jurisprudence & Not Vulture Politics Over Sahil’s Death

In today's lead, Arnab examines a 54-second CCTV clip from IIT Bombay that has landed at the center of a national storm. The footage, according to sources, shows student Sahil Wakode in the front row, wearing a black t-shirt, glancing at something at the seven-second mark while Prof. Suryanarayana Doolla, the invigilator, has his back turned. The professor then approaches; Wakode lifts his head, briefly stands, sits down again, and hands his mobile phone to the invigilator. What was on the phone remains unknown.

Mumbai Police Crime Branch is still trying to access Wakode's iPhone, and the chat history has not been examined. Any conclusion on caste discrimination by professors at one of India's premier institutes, before that evidence surfaces, is premature.

Meanwhile, the tragedy has turned political. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has reached out to the grieving parents, and the Mumbai Youth Congress has escalated its campaign. Supporters of the opposition argue that questions about caste and institutional accountability deserve answers, not silence.

Arnab asks the hard questions. Was this academic misconduct, an institutional failure, or something far deeper? Should a grieving family's loss become political fodder in Mumbai, Delhi and beyond? And why must IIT Bombay's reputation wait on facts rather than slogans?