A first-year student of the BTech department of Moti Lal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT), Allahabad, Sovit Agrawal, hanged himself in his hostel room on Wednesday morning.

Sub-Inspector Rajesh Pathak said: “It appears to be a case of suicide. We will now seek the details contained in his laptop and the call details of his mobile to ascertain the reasons.”

Sovit’s father Ashok Agrawal is a businessman in East Sikkim.

The incident has perplexed the authorities, there appears to be no immediate reason for the extreme step.

According to his roommates, Sovit had returned from home on Tuesday night. “Last night, we watched a comedy movie on his new laptop, which his parents had gifted him recently. In the morning, he was sleeping and refused to attend his classes,” said his roommates Sudershan and Anshul Shekhar. “We thought he was tired after a long journey and wanted to take rest,” another added.

Shekhar called on his mobile around 11 am to tell him about his practical classes but he did not respond. His other friends in the hostel tried to open the door and found it locked from inside.

Failing to get any response from Sovit, they grew suspicious and after informing the authorities, broke open the door to find the body.

“He was a cheerful person and was good in academics. We know of nothing that could have pushed him to take this step,” said Shekhar

This is the third suicide in the state since last week. A week ago, a second year BTech student of the same institute, Parul Singh, shot herself with her uncle’s pistol while on a visit to his home in Varanasi. The students alleged that she ended her life because of ragging. Institute director Professor A B Sammdar said the incident was “unfortunate”.

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