IIT Bombay faculty raise questions over police action against student protesters

In an open letter, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay administration has asked for a detailed explanation of the detentions and alleged use of force on campus on October 18, 2026, raising concerns over police action against student protesters at the institute.

In the email to the administration of the institute, questions have been raised over the Mumbai Police entering the campus and detained students and cleared a protest site near the main gate of the IIT Bombay campus. The letter demands an official response from the director to the circumstances and the institute’s role in them.

The concerns have been raised after a month-long protest and death of IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode, on September 18. The letter has also admitted that there are “different responses” within the community of the institute about the protest, but challenges how the demonstrators have been treated.

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Police action questioned

The letter includes a few questions to the institute, like  whether any official of IIT Bombay authorised the police to enter the campus and detain the protesters. It also questions why the students were removed during a peaceful sit-in, as the letter describes.

The letter also included that the students mentioned that they were mistreated during the police action, including being pulled by the hair, kicked. There are also concerns about the eight protestors who were protesting without any violence being detained; those had pictures of social reformers Savitribai Phule, Jyotirao Phule, Birsa Munda and B. R. Ambedkar.

The authors also wonder about why the administration did not intervene when “Dean SA and the CSO were present at the time of this incident”. The letter also seeks an explanation for the alleged failure to provide help when students in detention sought to contact officials of the institute.

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Demand for accountability

The letter seeks clarification from IIT Bombay officials on whether the police action was approved by the administration. If not, the authors ask, will the institute take action and seek accountability for the alleged violence.

It also raises questions about students’ belongings, including books, bags, slippers and laptops, which remained in the institute’s possession, says the letter. There are questions about whether the digital devices were formally seized and whether the appropriate legal procedures were followed.

The letter cites the institute’s stated values, asking, “What meaning do these commitments have if the administration remains silent when students are subjected to physical violence on its own campus.”

The authors requested that the IIT Bombay administration reply to the raised concerns in the letter with a “clear and comprehensive statement.”