Radhika was a loner, good at dancing, say classmates

Another classmate added the Radhika moved out of the college hostel a few months back. "One of her hostel mates had said that Radhika was not comfortable in the college hostel. She was a loner and did not have many friends in college."

Her classmates said that Radhika liked dancing and modeling. "Once I remember that she had some credits less in a subject, she was asked by the teacher to participate in a cultural program and so she did," said another of her classmate.

Radhika, as per people who knew her, was aspiring to make a career in modelling and had been skipping classes.

Radhika had moved into a paying guest accommodation in Sector 15 on October 18. "The girl was from a humble background and even when she was moving in, her father kept saying that he cannot afford the expenses of the paying guest," said Radhika's landlady.

Police officials investigating Radhika's death, a student of Government College for Girls in Sector 11, said that it appeared that the deceased first had beer followed by the drug that caused her death.

Significantly, the police have established that the drugs which Radhika had used were procured from Amritsar by the two men, who have been arrested in the case.

What has the investigators intrigued is the information that on December 17, it was only for the second time that Radhika had met Sweety Sharma. The 23-year-old Sweety is the complainant in the case and is believed to be the one who introduced Radhika to Gagandeep and Saurav.

Police sources said that Sweety, during interrogation, had said that Radhika was a frequent drug user. A city based forensic expert said, "If you take drugs and alcohol together, one augments the affect of other. The combination can be lethal at times depending upon the quantity."

Hotel checks

When asked the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Naunihal Singh, about regular checks on the hotels in the city he said, "all the owners of the hotels have been given the instructions to take the ID proof of whoever is coming to stay. In this particular case, the girl was an adult. Also, it is a responsibility of the hotel owners of inform to police if they find anyone suspicious."

SI Ram Rattan also said, "We keep checking all the hotels in our area time and again." However, the police checks the hotels mostly on weekends.

Cops get two-day custody of accused

The two accused — Gagandeep and Saurav, who were booked for culpable homicide and drug trafficking — were remanded to two days in police custody by a local court on Wednesday. The duo had allegedly supplied Radhika drugs in Hill View Hotel in Sector 22 on December 17. The police had sought a five-day police custody.

The police had recovered 4.5 grams of heroine from the accused. "The accused have revealed that they had bought the drug from Amritsar. They have also revealed a few mobile numbers which we have to verify," said Sub-Inspector Ram Rattan, in-charge, Police Post, Sector 22.

Gagandeep, a Sector 24 resident, has studied till Class 8. Police confirmed that his father is a proclaimed offender who has been arrested several time for gambling. The other accused, Saurav has passed Class X and is the son of a class IV employee, who works as a sweeper in a hospital in Amritsar.

City at mercy of

Drug peddlers: BJP

Chandigarh: BJP expressed concern at the increasing illegal trade of drugs in the city and condoled Radhika's death due to drug overdose. In a joint statement, BJP leaders Satinder Singh and Shakti Prakash Devshali said that law and order in the city was in its worst condition, "Cases of eve-teasing, snatching, group clashes, thefts and loot have become routine. Drug peddlers are making school and college students their soft targets and moving freely...and the city has been left at the mercy of the drug peddlers."

Past incident

Manimajra: A similar case of death due to drug overdose was reported to UT Police on December 28, 2011. Vikram Bal (30) was found dead at his farmhouse in Shastri Nagar, Manimajra. A senior police official said that the chemical analysis report of his viscera had revealed that he died due to phosphate overdose. As per the report, he had taken some drugs and then drank alcohol which turned lethal.

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