Engineer found dead at IIT Madras: Deceased was temporary project staff who joined in April, lived off campus

After varied speculation by numerous sources, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras has confirmed that the young man who was found dead on campus on July 1, had joined the institute in April 2021 as temporary project staff and was living outside the campus. The partially burnt body of the young man was found inside the premises of the IIT Madras on Thursday night. Chennai police said that the deceased was a man in his mid-20s.

The institute has said that they will cooperate with the police. "An unfortunate and tragic incident occurred yesterday at IIT Madras Campus, involving a temporary project staff. The project staff whose body was found had joined the Institute in April 2021 and was living outside the campus," said the institute officials. "We are shocked and deeply grieved, and convey our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the departed soul. The police are investigating the incident and the Institute is fully cooperating with the authorities," added a statement from the IIT.

While initial media reports claimed that the deceased was a student from Kerala, police denied these reports. Sources said that some students found the body near some bushes by the hockey field inside the campus at around 8 pm on Thursday. The information was passed on to the Kotturpuram police who rushed to the spot. The body was sent to the Royapettah Government Hospital for post-mortem.

Police said that the skin on the deceased's face as well as on some other parts of the body was partially burnt. A senior police officer said that they had not found any suspicious materials at the spot where the body was found. Police have registered a case of suspicious death and are investigating whether the man was murdered or if he died by suicide.

(with updates from ENS)