Prima facie it appears that Ankit Arun Sharma (19), son of a Delhi-based businessman, died due to an overdose of drugs during a party with friends at Khadki on Friday night. Police are also probing other angles as the autopsy report points to a head injury as well. The cops are investigating a racket of peddlers who sell drugs at cheap rate to lure outstation students.

Ankit, a student of second year BBA, had failed in the final exams. He sat for the exams again, which concluded on Friday. That night, Sharma and three batchmates went to the home of a friend, Mohit Grover, at Laxmi Narayan Kunj in Khadki. There, they drank and took drugs. After the party, they went to sleep. The next morning, Ankit did not wake up. His friends rushed him to a local hospital where doctors declared him dead.

Khadki police have registered a case of accidental death. Inspector Ashok Shejal, who is investigating the case, said syringes, bottles and cigarettes have been seized from the place and sent for tests.

“The cause of the death has not been ascertained. The viscera of the deceased has been preserved for forensic tests. We are investigating how the youths got the drugs,” he said.

Preliminary investigations reveal that Ankit bought brown sugar and other drugs from a peddler in Koregaon Park, where he used to live earlier. Koregaon Park is known to be a hub of drug peddlers.

Mohit told The Indian Express that he knew Ankit, as both were natives of Delhi. “I went to sleep about 12.30 am. Till then, no one had consumed drugs. When I woke up the next morning, Ankit did not respond to our calls. So we took him to a hospital,” he said.

Police handed over Ankit’s body to his parents on Sunday. Vice-Principal of Ness Wadia College Hemant Deosthali said, “Sharma had failed in the second year of BBA. We came to know about his death from media reports.” The Anti-Narcotics cell of Pune police has started a parallel probe.

Website promotes drug dealers
City police have come across a website that displays addresses of drug-peddlers at various places across the country, including Pune. The website assures that drugs would be available at the mentioned spots. “There are many places to secure marijuana. These places are protected by cops who get paid a bribe every month. You may freely tell the cops where you secured it from,” the website says. Additional commissioner of police (crime) said proper investigations are on and the website is being probed.