NIT Hamirpur student dies due to drug overdose, one more arrested with narcotics

HAMIRPUR: A day after a first-year MTech student of the National Institute of Technology (NIT Hamirpur) was found dead in his hostel room due to a suspected drug overdose, another student of the institute was arrested on Tuesday after 'charas' was seized from his possession, police said.

On Monday, the police had arrested four persons, including three NIT students and another doing BEd, for allegedly distributing 'chitta,' a form of adulterated heroin, on campus. The police, probing the death case, on Tuesday arrested a BTech third-year student, a resident of Tendua Makhi area of Uttar Pradesh, after 69.38 grams of Charas was recovered from his possession.

The accused has been booked under Section 20 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), which lays out the punishment for the production, manufacture, sale, purchase, import and inter-state export of cannabis, superintendent of police (SP), Hamirpur, Akriti Sharma said. During checking, the police also found 42.96 grams of 'charas' hidden in a bush near the Vindhyachal hostel of the NIT on Tuesday.

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The SP said that the police were apprehending more suspects allegedly engaged in drug peddling on the NIT campus and appealed to the people to report to the police if they suspected anyone of indulging in such illegal activities. The four accused were booked under the NDPS Act, 1985. Preliminary investigations by the police and forensic team from Mandi had attributed the death of the student to the consumption of some intoxicant.