Mainak Sarkar, an alumnus IIT-Kgp knows little about

There is empathy at one level for Mainak Sarkar, who, IIT students believe, had an unsuccessful career. To them, he remains an aberration

Disbelief gripped the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur as news broke that one of its alumni, Mainak Sarkar, killed a professor of University of California, Los Angeles (ULCA) and another woman, whom some reports identified as Sarkar's wife, before shooting himself dead.

There is empathy at one level for Sarkar, who, IIT students believe, had an unsuccessful career. To them, he remains an aberration.

"His complex seems to have stemmed from issues with his career. For 10 years he was doing research, the feeling of not having achieved anything must have been a factor," said Sushil Mudi, a final year student in the electronics department.

Sarkar graduated in aerospace engineering from IIT- Kharagpur in 2000. Sometime in the early 2000, he left for the US after a stint as a software developer in India. From 2003 to 2005, he attended Stanford University for a Masters programme in astronautical engineering and then joined UCLA for PhD. He graduated from UCLA in 2013.

Even though Sarkar had studied at the best of institutes, no one quite recalls him as an outstanding student. "I do recollect his name, but nothing else. If he had excelled in any field, I would have remembered his name," said one of his professors in the aerospace department at IIT-Kharagpur.

"It's a very sad and unfortunate incident. Every year, close to 3,000 students graduate from IIT Kharagpur and what they do later is their choice," said the registrar of IIT- Kharagpur.

According to reports, Sarkar had accused UCLA professor William Klug of stealing his computer code and giving it to someone else. However, there are also reports quoting UCLA officials as saying the allegation was not true.

"If his professor has indeed stolen his research work and handed over the same to somebody else, it definitely is a grave matter," said Rohit Kumar, a second-year student of the civil engineering department, of IIT-Kharagpur.

News reports also say that Sarkar had publicly acknowledged the support he received from Klug on his dissertation. So, did he crack under pressure?