Missing IIT aspirant found dead in Kota, body found floating in canal

He had been undergoing coaching at an institute in Kota since April this year and stayed at a private hostel in Vigyan Nagar, he said.

The body of an 18-year-old IIT aspirant, missing from his coaching centre's hostel here for the last four days, was found floating in a canal at Degod town near here, police said Wednesday.

The body of Sidharth Pal, hailing from Dhanbad district in Jharkhand, was found floating in the canal Tuesday, said Degod police station in-charge Narayan Singh Hada.

Son of Pawan Chand Pal, a resident of Aamtal police station area in Dhanbad district, Pal had been preparing for the IIT entrance test, said Hada.

He had been undergoing coaching at an institute in Kota since April this year and stayed at a private hostel in Vigyan Nagar, he said.

Vigyan Nagar police station SHO Neeraj Gupta said Pal, a class 11 student, had gone missing from his hostel on Saturday, following which the hostel caretaker had lodged a "missing person" report.

The police had tried to trace his whereabouts, but in vain, Gupta said, adding Pal was said to be "not regular" in attending classes and was "not performing well in tests" either.

Pal had spoken to his father last on Saturday evening after which his mobile had gone off, the SHO said, adding the youth's father told him on the phone that his son seemed depressed when he spoke to him.

The study stress and peers' pressure appear to have driven the youth to take the extreme step, Gupta said, adding, no suicide note of the deceased was recovered.

He said the youth's body has been placed in the MBS Hospital mortuary for post-mortem, which would be carried out after the arrival of his family members from Jharkhand.

(With inputs from agencies.)