New CCTV Footage Shows Sahil Wakode’s Movements Before He Left IIT Bombay Exam Hall

Mumbai Crime Branch reconstructs timeline as case includes SC/ST Act provisions following family's discrimination allegations

PGurus Newsdesk

September 23, 2026

What new footage shows about the hour before Sahil Wakode's death

The Mumbai Crime Branch is reviewing fresh CCTV footage to reconstruct Sahil Wakode’s final movements before he was found dead

Fresh CCTV footage examined as part of the investigation into the death of IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode shows him being questioned during an examination and then leaving the exam hall on September 18, shortly before he returned to his hostel room and was later found dead.

According to details of the investigation, the footage places Wakode’s movements inside the examination hall between approximately 12:30 pm and 12:45 pm, close to when the exam was scheduled to end. The footage reportedly shows him bending down and looking at something in his pocket, after which a professor questioned him, took him aside from other students, and asked him to leave the hall.

#IITBombay suicide case: New CCTV footage shows #SahilWakode’s movements before he left #exam hall
Details here 🔗https://t.co/29zwG5mOFM
Read more. Download the TOI App 👉 https://t.co/EYjxlU7kcd pic.twitter.com/xgbZY57336
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) September 23, 2026

Reconstructing the timeline

The Mumbai Crime Branch, which has taken over the case, is reviewing footage from the examination hall, other parts of the campus, and the hostel to piece together the sequence of events that day. Investigators say Wakode reached his hostel room at around 1:25 pm and did not leave it again. He was found dead there later that day.

Wakode, 22, was a second-year BTech student in IIT Bombay’s Department of Energy Science and Engineering.

Institute’s account and subsequent developments

IIT Bombay had earlier said Wakode was found using a mobile phone during the examination and alleged that he had uploaded the question paper to ChatGPT in an attempt to obtain answers. The institute has since issued an apology in connection with the case, and a professor involved, Suryanarayana Doolla, was suspended; some faculty members have publicly voiced support for him.

Wakode’s death led to protests on campus and a police case that includes provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, following allegations from his family that he faced caste-based harassment. These allegations have not been established, and the case was subsequently transferred to the Crime Branch for further investigation.

Student demands

Student representatives have called for an independent probe into the circumstances of Wakode’s death, changes to disciplinary procedures, greater student involvement in institutional decision-making, expanded counselling and mental health support, faculty sensitisation programmes, and a task force made up of students, faculty, mental health professionals and external experts. They have asked for an interim report by September 30 and a final report by October 15.

The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities have not yet established the full circumstances surrounding Wakode’s death.

For all the latest updates, download PGurus App.