Four Friends Charged in 2013 Case Involving NRI Youth’s Death in New Delhi

Four Indian men who were friends of Anmol Sarna, a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) youth who died in 2013 in New Delhi under mysterious circumstances, were charge-sheeted under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act by the Delhi Police.

Sarna, who was 20 then, was under the influence of “designer drugs and cannabis,” according to the charge-sheet presented in the court. Apart from the four men — Ridham Girhotra, Shivank Gambhir, Madhav Bhandari, and Pranil Shah — two drug peddlers and two security guards were also charge-sheeted in the case.

The drug peddlers were charged under the NDPS Act while the guards were charged for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, according to the Indian Express.

“The medical board stated in its report that Sarna’s behavior was erratic, violent, abusive and hallucinating — typically seen in drug abuse cases, also known as ‘run-amok’ condition. Such behavior is seen in cases of excessive intake of narcotic drugs where a person is unable to control his actions due to the effect of the intoxicating substances/drug leading to erratic behavior,” the police stated in its charge-sheet.

Sarna, who finished high school in New York, was supposed to go to Canada. But he was found dead outside his friend Pranil Shah’s house in Kalkaji on Sept. 13, 2013. Sarna was beaten up by the two guards for creating a ruckus in the complex after a party at Shah’s house lasted until midnight.

Sarna was found bleeding in the apartment complex around 2 am and was taken to the hospital, where he died.

Nine people were arrested for the murder and consumption of narcotics. One of the accused, Dushyant Lamba, committed suicide later. He was a drug peddler who had procured LSD from China hidden in books that he ordered online.

“He was procuring LSD from a Beijing-based contact, identified as Eric, via email. Later, payments were made through a money transfer service. He paid around $300-500 for one sheet,” the police stated in the charge-sheet.

The incident made headlines in 2013. Initially, the police had blamed only the two guards who beat up Sarna after he became violent for his murder, but the investigation was later expanded to also include his friends and the peddlers.