IIT professor booked for researcher's death near archaeological site in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: Police have registered a case against an IIT Delhi professor for alleged negligence following the death of a woman PhD student last year during excavation work near the archaeological site of Lothal in Gujarat, officials said on Thursday (March 27).

While the incident took place on November 27 last year near the Harappan-era archaeological site, the First Information Report (FIR) was registered on March 23 at Koth police station in Ahmedabad district following a complaint by the student's father, sub-inspector PN Gohil said.

Surabhi Verma (23), a PhD scholar at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, died after a 10-feet deep excavation pit collapsed on her when she and her professor Yama Dixit were inside the pit to collect soil samples for their paleoclimatic study at Lothal, located nearly 80 km from Ahmedabad.

"While Surabhi died on the spot, Dixit was rescued from the collapsed pit. Based on a complaint given by Surabhi's father Ramkhelavan Verma, the Koth police have booked Dixit on charges of causing death by negligence. No arrest has been made yet," Gohil said.

Dixit has been booked under sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 125 (endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

As per the FIR, Surabhi Verma took admission as a PhD student at the IIT Delhi in December 2023 after completing M Tech in Earth Sciences.

In November 2024, Verma and Dixit came to Gujarat for a research project.

On November 27, the duo along with a student and a professor of the IIT Gandhinagar reached Lothal to collect samples, said the FIR.

After reaching the spot, they hired an earthmover operator to excavate a 10-feet-deep pit near a road which passes by the archaeological remains of the Harappan port town of Lothal in Dholka taluka of Ahmedabad.

As soon as Verma and Dixit went inside to collect the soil samples, the pit caved-in. Verma died on the spot while Dixit escaped with head injury.

As per the FIR, Dixit's negligence led to Verma's death as she was engaged in a "dangerous work" of collecting samples from the pit without being provided any safety equipment.

Also, Verma was not informed in advance about the task of soil sample collection by Dixit, said the FIR.

Ahmedabad District Superintendent of Police Om Prakash Jat in November last year said the team was doing a paleoclimatic study of Lothal to find out how different climatic events such as flood or famine impacted the Indus Valley civilisation.

As part of their ongoing research, they were collecting soil samples of that era by digging a trench near the Lothal site.

A preliminary probe, however, indicated the team was not aware of the high water level beneath the visible dry soil, the official had said.

Jat said the spot is part of marshy area due to the ingress of sea, with water being found by digging just 5-6 feet.

The researchers had not informed police or any local authority before carrying out the excavation work, he added.