A final-year student of computer science at a private engineering college in south Calcutta was found hanging in his rented apartment at Garfa on Monday afternoon, police said.

Utkarsh Raj, 23, from Bihar’s Muzaffarpur, was declared dead at SSKM Hospital.

Police said his roommates had gone to their homes during Diwali and Raj was alone at the apartment in Krishna Kunj on North Purbachal Road.

One of the roommates, who hails from Jamshedpur, returned on Monday. “When repeated knocks went unanswered he called some of their neighbours and used a hacksaw to cut the bolt on the main door,” an officer of Garfa police station said. “He was found hanging from the ceiling with a nylon rope and towel round his neck. They alerted the police.”

He was found in a partial hanging condition; his knees were resting on the bed, the officer said. A wooden stool was found on the bed. The police have learnt from his friends and neighbours he was “worried about his future prospects”. His family has been alerted and the body sent for post-mortem.

Preliminary examination has suggested “discontinuous ligature marks” round his neck. The body bore no external injury marks, the police said. The actual cause of death can be ascertained only after the post-mortem report is available, an officer said.

His phone will undergo forensic examination to find any information that might help in the investigation, the police said. His call detail record will be scanned. There has been no complaint from the family till Monday evening and there are no signs of foul play, the police said.

Officials of his college told The Telegraph on Monday evening that they got to know of his death from students. “The police have not contacted us,” one of the officials said.