5 Live Bullets Found in IIT-Bombay Hostel; Bihar Youth Arrested After Campus Breach

Fresh security concerns have emerged at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay after police arrested a 23-year-old visitor from Bihar for allegedly entering the campus using a fake identity card and storing live ammunition inside a student’s hostel room. The incident has once again raised questions about access control and monitoring inside one of the country’s premier educational institutions.

According to the Powai Police, five live 7.65 mm cartridges were recovered from a bag kept in Room No. 93 of Hostel No. 1 during a late-night inspection. The arrested accused, identified as Anand alias Sarvottam Chaudhary, is a resident of Samastipur, Bihar, and a BSc student in his hometown.

Chaudhary had reportedly arrived in Mumbai on February 12 and stayed on campus as a guest of his childhood friend, Apoorva Mishra, a first-year BTech student residing in the hostel. Police said he managed to gain entry into the campus by presenting a forged student identity card and had been staying there for five days.

The matter came to light around 1.30 am on February 19 after a security guard noticed a dispute on the ground floor of Hostel No. 1. An argument had broken out between Suraj Dubey of Room No. 93 and another student over financial issues. When the security supervisor and his team intervened, they allegedly found Dubey and Mishra under the influence of alcohol, which is strictly prohibited inside the hostel premises.

As part of standard procedure, security personnel searched the room for liquor bottles. During the inspection, they found a bag lying on the bed. Upon checking its front pocket, they discovered five live cartridges.

Dubey reportedly told security that the bag belonged to Mishra. During questioning, Mishra stated that his friend Chaudhary had brought the ammunition to campus on February 12 and had kept it inside the bag.

Chaudhary was detained when he returned to the campus later that day to meet his friend. He was subsequently handed over to Powai police. An FIR was registered under the Arms Act based on a complaint filed by a member of the institute’s security staff, and he was formally arrested. He was produced before a court on Saturday and remanded to police custody.

During interrogation, Chaudhary allegedly admitted that he had purchased the cartridges from Munger in Bihar and brought them to Mumbai. Police suspect he may have sold a firearm along with some ammunition earlier and could have been attempting to find buyers for the remaining cartridges. His call records are currently being examined to check for possible links to local criminal elements.

Investigators are also probing the whereabouts of any weapon that may be associated with the recovered ammunition. So far, no firearm has been found.

Police said Chaudhary had come to Mumbai to celebrate Valentine’s Day with his girlfriend, who resides in the Mira Road area. On February 14, he, his girlfriend, and his IIT friend reportedly went out for a movie and dinner, after which Mishra returned alone to the hostel.

An officer involved in the investigation stated, “The student knew that the bullets were in his bag. In their hometown in Samastipur, keeping such ammunition is not seen as unusual, so he did not raise an objection.” Police also suspect that Chaudhary may have intended to show the cartridges to his friend’s roommates.

In his complaint, IIT-B security sub-inspector Amod Karanje recounted the sequence of events: “At around 1.30 pm on February 19, we received information about a scuffle between students on the ground floor of Hostel No. 1 over money matters. Some of them appeared intoxicated. Since alcohol is banned on campus, our vigilance and quick response teams searched their rooms. We recovered liquor bottles and later found live cartridges in the front pocket of a student’s bag. The student informed us that his visiting friend had kept them there on February 12.”

In an official statement, the IIT-B administration clarified that the ammunition had been brought onto campus by a visitor staying with a hostel resident. The statement said, “The two individuals are childhood friends. The matter came to our attention after a physical altercation between students led to a security check. One student was found intoxicated, and during the routine inspection, liquor bottles and live bullets were discovered in the room. No weapon was recovered. After a thorough internal inquiry by the chief security officer and his team, the case was handed over to the police.” The institute added that disciplinary action would be taken according to its established procedures.

This marks the second significant security lapse at the campus in recent memory. Last year, a 22-year-old man from Surat allegedly posed as a PhD student using forged admission documents and stayed inside the campus for nearly a month, even attending Artificial Intelligence seminars and lectures without detection. Multiple authorities, including central agencies, later questioned him for nearly a week.

A police officer associated with the current probe remarked, “There is inadequate scanning and frisking of visitors entering the campus. Even after last year’s incident involving a fake PhD student, and despite hiring the Maharashtra Security Force to strengthen gate checks, gaps in enforcement still remain.”