MUMBAI: Faculty members staged a protest inside IIT-Bombay’s main building on Monday in support of Prof Suryanarayana Doolla, who was removed as dean of administrative affairs amid protests over the death by suicide of student Sahil Wakode.The institute’s faculty forum, in a statement issued on Sunday, said Doolla had been discharging his duties in accordance with norms approved by the institute’s senate.The faculty members gathered in support of Doolla as protests continued on the Powai campus following Wakode’s death.Doolla’s deanship was suspended with immediate effect, while he continues as a professor and head of the Department of Energy Science and Engineering.The institute director, Prof Shireesh Kedare, had informed campus residents that “the deanship of Prof Suryanarayan Doolla is suspended with immediate effect. Any further action will be taken after investigation”.Students had demanded action against Doolla as part of an 18-point charter submitted to the institute administration during a meeting with Kedare on Sunday.The director signed the charter, which also sought an independent investigation committee with student and external representatives, compensation for Wakode’s family, and a code of conduct and sensitisation for professors.The protests began on Friday night after Wakode, a second-year student of energy science and engineering, died by suicide hours after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone during a mid-semester examination.He had allegedly uploaded the examination paper on an AI platform for answers. The institute had said no action was initiated against him, while some students claimed he had been threatened with suspension.The institute also apologised over its earlier communication about the circumstances surrounding Wakode’s death, saying the details remained subject to investigation and should not have been characterised before being established through the appropriate investigative process.The administration also denied reports of Kedare’s resignation. A meeting of the institute’s Board of Governors is underway.