India
oi-Prakash KL
Students protesting the death of an IIT Delhi student have accused the Delhi Police of recording their protest and questioned why police personnel were allowed to enter the campus.
“The video can be misused against the students in future. It is unacceptable,” The Telegraph quoted a student as saying. The IIT, however, has clarified that it did not authorise anyone to record the protest.
IIT Delhi students protesting student Rishikesh’s death have accused Delhi Police of illegally recording their protest on campus without authorization, an act IIT Director Rangan Banerjee called unacceptable and prompted an internal inquiry.
Speaking to the English daily, IIT Delhi Director Rangan Banerjee said, “I have been told of some incident where someone was recording a video. This is not done. He was taken to campus security. I have not authorised Delhi Police to come into the campus.”
A source told the publication that an inquiry had been ordered to identify who had entered the campus and recorded the protest.
Demonstrators spotted a plainclothes officer filming them on a mobile phone. When confronted, he claimed to be with the Delhi Police.
Plain Clothes Delhi Policemen Entered Campus Illegally: IIT Delhi Students Allege pic.twitter.com/5KX0dU6uBJ
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) August 30, 2026
“It’s a peaceful protest inside our campus. There’s no law-and-order issue here. Outsiders are not allowed into the campus, let alone the police,” a student said. “We asked him who had authorised him to enter the campus and film our protest. He didn’t reply. We don’t know the purpose behind the act, but we see it as police interference.”
Students have been protesting since August 22, demanding the removal of two associate deans. They have accused the associate dean of student welfare of making insensitive remarks to Rishikesh, a second-year MSc student who died by suicide, according to his mother.
They are also demanding the resignation of the associate dean of hostel management for revoking Rishikesh’s room while he was recovering from an illness at his home in Bihar for a month. Protesters say losing his campus accommodation compounded his academic stress and worsened his depression.
In a video clip, IIT Delhi Director Rangan Banerjee is seen rejecting calls for the welfare dean’s immediate resignation. “I am just as accountable as the associate dean,” Banerjee tells students in the video. “An external committee is investigating the matter. We need to wait for their findings.”
While the administration has offered Rs 6 lakh in compensation to the victim’s family, protesters are demanding Rs 1 crore.
