Ayaan Zahid Khan, the 17-year-old son of Congress legislature party leader in the Bihar Legislative Assembly Shakeel Ahmad Khan, was found hanging from a ceiling fan at the legislator’s official residence in Patna on Monday.

The incident took place when the former All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary was away on a tour of Gujarat. He rushed back to Patna after getting information about son’s death.

Ayaan was a Class XII student at the Delhi Public School in the state capital and was slated to appear for the board examination, which is going to commence from February 15.

He was the only son of Shakeel, who is an MLA from Kadwa constituency in Katihar district. Ayaan’s elder sister is pursuing a law degree in England.

The deceased was last seen late on Sunday night when he retired to his room to sleep. His mother and other members of the household became worried after he did not come out till late on Monday morning. They forced open the door of the room and saw him hanging from the ceiling fan.

Patna senior superintendent of police Awakash Kumar confirmed the death, but stopped short of claiming that it was a suicide.

“Senior police officers and forensic experts have reached the place of occurrence. They have started our investigation and are currently gathering evidence with regard to the incident,” Awakash said.

“The body has been sent for postmortem. We are investigating the incident from all possible angles. The exact cause of the death is still being determined,” the SSP added.

Ayaan’s close friend Umair Khan told reporters: “He (Ayaan) was very good at studies, free from any stress, courageous, friendly and humorous. He cannot commit suicide. We met on Sunday evening at a friend’s birthday... He later returned home with his mother.”

Politicians cutting across party lines made a beeline for Shakeel’s residence to express solidarity with him in the hour of grief.

“This is a shocking incident... Ayaan was a brilliant student. Shakeel had introduced him to Rahul Gandhi during his recent visit to Patna, and he (Ayaan) had recited poetry, earning praise. We were happy about it,” senior Congress leader Prem Chandra Mishra said.