Punjab Police on trail of man behind IISER researcher’s death in Mohali

Punjab Police on Thursday booked the absconding neighbour of Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) researcher Abhishek Swarnkar, 39, for culpable homicide not amounting to murder after a scuffle over a parking dispute claimed his life on Tuesday night.

Mohali Phase-11 station house officer Gagandeep Singh said a case under Section 105 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has been registered against the 26-year-old accused, Monty, and efforts are on to arrest him.

The victim from West Bengal was a national post-doctoral fellow at IISER staying on rent with his parents in Sector 66, Mohali. He had undergone a kidney transplant recently and was on dialysis, the police said.

At 8.30pm on Tuesday, he returned home and parked his motorcycle opposite his house when his neighbour, Monty, rushed out and picked up a fight. The argument escalated and CCTV footage of the incident shows Monty punched Swarnkar in the chest, causing him to fall on the road and lose consciousness. Monty is seen charging at Swarnkar, who is still on the ground, but is quickly pulled away. The scientist eventually tries to stand up with help from those around but collapses again.

The police said Monty rushed Swarnkar to a private hospital in Sector 62, where he died during treatment. The accused even hit a vehicle parked near his house while rushing the victim to hospital.

“We have received a complaint from the Swarnkar family and have registered the case,” SHO Gagandeep Singh said.

An IISER official, requesting anonymity, said Swarnkar was a promising scientist, who had been selected by the department of science and technology to meet Nobel Laureates in 2017. He was earlier working in the US and had returned to India due to his ill-health. One of his two sisters had donated a kidney to him.