Saketh Sreenivasaiah, a 22-year-old IIT Madras graduate and UC Berkeley student, was found dead in California days after going missing, leaving Indian and global academic communities in shock.
Published: February 15, 2026 9:09 AM IST
Indian student Saketh Sreenivasaiah, who went missing from Berkeley earlier this month, was declared dead on Monday. He was found dead after six days of extensive searching by police near the University of California, Berkeley campus. “Our deepest condolences to the family members of Saketh Sreenivasaiah. We are in contact with the family and will assist them with the earliest possible repatriation of his mortal remains,” tweeted the Indian Consulate-General, San Francisco.
A 22-year-old postgraduate student at UC Berkeley, Saketh hailed from Karnataka. Saketh Sreenivasaiah was studying for his postgraduate degree at the university’s department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the time of his death.
IIT Madras Graduate Headed to Berkeley for His Masters
As Saketh prepared to pursue his Master’s degree at Berkeley, he earned his BTech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Madras in 2025. Saketh joined UC Berkeley for his MS degree in Product Development Programme studying Chemical Engineering.
On LinkedIn, Saketh describes himself as someone who “loves deep-tech innovations at the intersection of advanced materials, semiconductors, and soft active materials.” The multidisciplinary programme at Berkeley seeks to train students to develop market-ready products by the end of their two-year programme.
Missing Indian Student in Berkeley Found Dead
Missing since February 9, Saketh was last seen near Lake Anza and Berkeley Hills area which is roughly one kilometre away from campus. The Indian Consulate in San Francisco along with Berkeley police and several volunteers have been searching for the student since Saturday. A backpack containing Saketh’s passport and laptop was found at the front yard of a home near the Tilden Regional Park connecting the towns of Berkeley and El Cerrito on Sunday.
Students from Berkeley and well-wishers in India tried to coordinate the searches through various threads on Twitter as well as on-ground efforts by volunteers near Berkeley.
An Official Statement from Consulate General Of India, San Francisco
In their official statement on Saketh’s death, the Consulate General of India, San Francisco said: “We are deeply saddened by the death of Saketh Sreenivasaiah. We are in contact with his family and are assisting them with due processes.”
The cause of death has not been revealed.
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