NIT Hamirpur Student Death case: Five students sent to police remand till October 27

HAMIRPUR: A local court on Wednesday sent all five persons arrested in connection with the death of a student at National Institute of Technology (NIT) Hamirpur due to suspected drug overdose to police custody till October 27. The police registered a case of culpable homicide against the five accused - four students of NIT and another student doing BEd - besides booking them under the the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for distributing 'chitta,' a form of adulterated heroin, on the college campus.

Based on the evidence recovered from the spot, preliminary investigations by the police and forensic team from Mandi had attributed the death of the first year M.Tech student to the consumption of some intoxicant. The accused have been sent to police remand till October 27 by the court, Superintendent of Police (Hamirpur) Aakriti Sharma said, adding that the case is under investigation.

Terming it as a shocking incident, senior BJP leader and former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Wednesday expressed concern over the "growing" cases of drug abuse in the state in general and Hamirpur district in particular and demanded strong action against the drug mafia. "Our young generation is slowly dying due to drugs. Therefore, I appeal to the government, administration, society and parents to protect children from getting into drugs. “Give them the right guidance. Send them to the playground. Send them on educational trips. Make them acquire good education and good values”, he told reporters.

Dhumal said that increasing drug addiction in the state is a sign of danger and "we would have to eliminate this evil if we want to save society and the younger generation". "The biggest task for nation-building is to save today's young generation from drugs," he asserted. Earlier, he flagged off a group of twenty-one young students on the MP Bharat darshan programme and said that this trip would help them to know about various parts of India and their culture.