Crime branch to probe IIT student's suicide: Chennai police chief

With the controversy over the reported suicide of IIT Madras student Fathima Latheef growing, Chennai Commissioner of Police AK Viswanathan has handed over the case to the Central Crime Branch on Thursday.

Chennai: The investigation into the suicide of an IIT woman student, Fathima Latheef is transferred to the Central Crime Branch and a special team would probe the matter, a top city police official said on Thursday.

Chennai Police Commissioner A K Viswanathan visited the IIT Madras campus here along with senior officers and held an inquiry into the suicide of the student.

Fathima Latheef, pursuing her first-year undergraduate course in the humanities stream (five years integrated MA programme), committed suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan on November 9. The student hailed from Kollam in Kerala.

Speaking to reporters after completing the inquiry, Viswanathan said the investigation of the case is transferred from the local (Kotturpuram) police to the Central Crime Branch.

"A special team headed by additional commissioner CCB has been set up to probe the case and additional deputy commissioner (crime against women and children) Megalina will be the investigation officer," he said.

"All steps will be taken to expeditiously complete investigation in the case and bring out the truth," he said.

To a question on the demand for a CBI probe, he said the special team head C Easwaramoorthy has had a stint in the CBI and successfully cracked several tough cases in Tamil Nadu.

The team comprises competent officers including an assistant commissioner Prabhakaran who also had served in the CBI, he pointed out.

Since the case has become sensitive, it has been decided that both the probe and its supervision would be in the hands of senior officers.

Asked if a professor suspected in the case would be called in for questioning, he said, "Investigation will continue to be on and nothing related to the probe will be disclosed at this juncture."

Only after completion of the probe, "what happened will be known," he said to a question.

On Tuesday, the family of the student, who committed suicide in her hostel room in the IIT campus, met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and sought a fair police probe into the circumstances leading to her death.

The family was assured by the CM that the matter would be taken up with Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami as a state's issue.

The IIT Madras had expressed deep grief and sadness over the student's death.