In a surprising incident at IIT Bombay, a 22-year-old youth from Mangaluru, Karnataka, managed to study at the institute without formal admission. Bilal Tele, who entered the IIT campus without permission, attended classes for several days until a professor鈥檚 request for an ID card revealed his unauthorised presence.
Tele posed as a student and attended several engineering classes before his presence was discovered on June 19. He was then detained and handed over to the police.
The IIT administration first noticed Tele on June 4, when an alert was issued about an unidentified individual near the office. Upon being asked for identification, Tele fled, prompting security to capture his image on CCTV. Despite efforts, he was not located immediately.
During interrogation, Bilal explained that his initial visit was for a one-day study programme. However, he found the academic environment so appealing that he decided to stay on. Police officer Datta Nalawade confirmed that Tele harboured no malicious intent and merely wanted to attend engineering classes, although his presence on campus was unauthorised.
Tele鈥檚 unauthorised stay spanned from June 2 to June 7 and again from June 10 to June 19. It is still unclear how he remained undetected. A senior professor questioned where he stayed, whether he accessed any lab data, and what his true intentions were.
The Powai Police are currently investigating the matter, and IIT Bombay has increased its security measures in response.