IIT Kharagpur Prof. From Hyderabad Found Dead
“He was a promising faculty member. This is a huge loss to IIT Kharagpur and to India": IIT Kharagpur director Suman Chakraborty
HYDERABAD: Weeks before an industry visit he had been preparing for, Hyderabad‑born academic Deepak Reddy Pullaguram, 36, was found dead at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur on Wednesday, leaving colleagues and students shocked.
Police said Deepak Reddy lived alone in institute accommodation. After he did not respond to colleagues’ calls, security personnel alerted the local police. Investigators have sealed the premises and begun a detailed inquiry.
IIT Kharagpur director Suman Chakraborty described the death as a loss to the institute and the country. “He was a promising faculty member. This is a huge loss to IIT Kharagpur and to India,” he said. Chakraborty added that colleagues and students who had worked closely with Pullaguram were equally stunned, recalling no signs of distress.
Deepak Reddy completed his BTech in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from JNTU Hyderabad in 2012, his MTech in Electrical Engineering (power systems) from NIT Warangal in 2014, and his PhD from IIT Delhi in 2018, focusing on distributed control strategies for AC and DC microgrids.
He returned to Telangana as an assistant professor at NIT Warangal in December 2019 and worked there until August 2022, before joining IIT Kharagpur. His research covered microgrids, renewable energy integration, power‑system dynamics, optimisation and cyber security.
NIT Warangal director Bidyadhar Subudhi said the news was a shock. Though he had not known Pullaguram closely, he recalled a pleasant interaction when the faculty member returned for an academic programme about two years ago.
Deepak Reddy’s career had been gaining recognition. In 2024, he was selected as a Young Associate of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE). His IIT Kharagpur profile lists more than 46 publications, two patents and over ₹1.44 crore in research funding, besides supervision of research scholars.
The incident has also drawn attention to mental‑health support on campuses. Chakraborty said IIT Kharagpur conducts annual assessments for students, with concerns referred to counsellors. Comparable structured screening is not available for faculty members, he noted. “I wish I had known if there was anything else I could have done to have avoided this,” he said.
Police have registered an unnatural death case and are investigating the circumstances. No reason had been established as of Wednesday evening. Deepak Reddy’s family in Hyderabad has been informed.