NRI student's death: Two guards held for assault

NRI student Anmol Sarna died here of self-inflicted injuries and wounds from thrashing by two security guards who have now been arrested, police said Tuesday, adding that his four friends were also held for drug abuse.

Sarna, 21, from New York, died of his injuries in a hospital late Sep 13. He was earlier found bleeding in the Southpark Apartment complex in the Kalkaji area of south Delhi.

Deputy Commissioner of Police P. Karunakaran said apartment guards Surender Bali, 46, and Naresh Mishra, 60, were arrested for assaulting Sarna after he shouted loudly and behaved abnormally after a party in a friend's flat.

"The guards thrashed him with batons that led to head, back and hip injuries. Sarna kept behaving abnormally and started running here and there. While running he banged himself against several cars parked there and rammed into a closed iron gate," he said.

Police said Sarna, who returned from the US around seven months ago, had organised a drug party with his friends Shivang alias Chiki Gambhir, 20, Madhav Bhandaru, 20, Rhythm Girhotra, 20, and Pranil Shah, 20, Sep 13 night.

All the four friends of Sarna have now been arrested under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act for consuming the drugs, police said.

Karunakaran said the five friends started consuming a powerful drug inside Shah's flat around 9 p.m. and around 11 p.m. Sarna became violent and started shouting and behaving abnormally due to a suspected drug reaction.

"He also broke an LCD television among other things in the house," said Karunakaran.

The misconduct by Sarna angered Shah's father, who turned all the friends of his son, including Sarna, out of the house, police said.

"But Sarna sat outside Shah's duplex flat on the second floor and kept shouting," police said.

The apartment's security guards Bali and Mishra tried to stop him from shouting but he slapped one of them and the two guards beat him up with batons, police said.

The thrashing caused injuries to Sarna on his head, back and hips, police said.

Shah's father also made a call to the Police Control Room around 12.09 a.m. Sep 14 and a vehicle took a bleeding Sarna to hospital, police said.

"The police van rushed Sarna to All India Institute of Medical Sciences where he died around 1.45 a.m. during treatment," said Karunakaran.

"We are still tracking the drug dealers who provided drugs to Sarna and his friends in Noida where they had gone to collect it Sep 11. They had paid Rs.7,000 for the drug and received it from one of his friends in Noida Sector 18," said the officer.