Man Posing as IIT-B Student for 20 Days Arrested; Used 21 Email IDs to Avoid Detection
Man Posing as IIT-B Student for 20 Days Arrested; Used 21 Email IDs to Avoid Detection
In a bizarre and concerning security breach, a 22-year-old man from Karnataka has been arrested after spending nearly 20 days on the prestigious IIT Bombay campus by pretending to be a student. The accused, identified as Bilal Ahmed Teli, not only attended lectures but also lived inside hostel premises without any official authorization, police said.
Teli reportedly entered the IIT Bombay campus initially on June 2 and remained there until June 7. After leaving briefly, he re-entered the campus and continued his unauthorised stay. Authorities believe he first gained access on May 27 while attending a one-day course. Over the next few weeks, he blended in by participating in lectures during the day and sleeping on couches in common areas at night.
The unusual case came to light when a staff member from IIT Bombay noticed an unfamiliar face in her office. When she questioned Teli about his identity, he fled the scene. This incident, which took place on June 4, led her to alert campus security and share CCTV footage. Although a search was initiated, he couldn’t be found immediately.
Nearly two weeks later, on June 17, the same staff member spotted him again—this time attending a class in Lecture Hall LH-101. The campus Quick Response Team swiftly intervened and handed him over to the Powai police.
Initially, an FIR was registered under trespassing charges, and Teli was allowed to leave with a notice to appear for further questioning. However, as officers delved deeper, disturbing details emerged. Authorities discovered that Teli had used 21 different email addresses and multiple phone numbers to avoid detection. His mobile phone also contained several calling apps like Signal, which he used to cover his tracks. Police suspect he had studied the campus’s entry and exit routes through security footage, indicating deliberate planning.
Further investigations revealed that Teli had only studied up to Class 10, scoring 48 percent. Though he claimed to have completed two more years of education, officials have yet to confirm that. Before arriving in Mumbai, he spent some years in Surat for work and later returned to Mangalore.
“He told us he had a deep interest in technology and always dreamt of studying at an IIT,” an officer involved in the investigation shared. “What concerns us is not just the trespass but the calculated way he managed to hide in plain sight, leaving almost no digital trace behind.”
Following these revelations, sections related to cheating and forgery were added to the FIR. The local Powai police handed over the case to the Mumbai crime branch, which has since taken over the investigation. Teli was produced in court on Wednesday and remanded to police custody until July 8 for further interrogation.
This incident has not only raised serious questions about campus security but also left officials baffled by the lengths someone went to in order to live out an academic fantasy. As the crime branch probes deeper, they aim to uncover whether there was any ulterior motive behind Teli’s actions—or if it was, as he claims, just a dream taken too far.
