Security Breach At IIT Bombay: Mangaluru Man Illegally Stayed On Campus For 14 Days, Posing As Student

A serious security scare has rocked IIT Bombay, one of India’s most prestigious academic institutions, after an unidentified man was discovered living illegally on campus for 14 days, posing as a student. The suspect, Bilal Ahmed Fayaz Ahmed Teli,22, from Mangaluru, Karnataka, was apprehended on June 17 by campus security and later handed over to the Powai police station. Investigations are on to find out how he entered the insitute's campus avoiding the security and where he stayed during the night.

Authorities are now treating the case as a potential threat, with investigations underway to determine whether the accused was involved in any surveillance, reconnaissance, or coordinated activity. Police are not ruling out the possibility of the individual being part of a larger network or acting on specific instructions.

According to the FIR filed by IIT Bombay’s security and vigilance department, Rahul Dattaram Patil, 48, a staff member. According to the complaint, the breach was first noticed on June 4 when Shilpa Kotikkal, an official from the CREST department, reported a suspicious intruder entering her office, who was not an IIT student. When they asked for his ID, the man fled the scene.

Kotikkal managed to extract the suspect’s image from CCTV footage and shared it with IIT's security Quick Response Team (QRT). Despite initial efforts, the suspect was not located. Search was on, but he remained untraceable. 

Shockingly, on June 17 at around 4 PM, Kotikkal again spotted the suspect, he was sitting inside Lecture Hall LH 101—once again blending in with the students. Security QRT guards Kishor Kumbhar and Shyam Ghodvinde acted swiftly, detaining him on the spot.

During questioning by Patil, with assistance from the guards, the suspect identified himself as Bilal Teli and confessed to staying in multiple student hostels between June 2–7 and June 10–17. Around 13,000 undergraduate, masters, and PhD  sudents live in the campus. 

The Powai Police have taken the suspect into custody from the IIT Powai campus. Someone living on campus for two weeks, entering academic buildings and hostels undetected, is a massive red flag. His background, intentions, and contacts are being thoroughly investigated,” a official said.

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Police have filed case under Sections 329(3) and 329(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act. The suspect is currently in custody, and intelligence agencies have been alerted to assess any deeper security implications.

Authorities are currently probing the motive behind Bilal's unauthorised entry into the campus. Investigators are looking into, whom he contacted, and what his intentions were. Police officials said it is possible that he entered the campus during an event and merged with the student community. A section of the 550-acre campus' boundary is along the Powai Lake.  

Authorities are urging students and staff to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity immediately.