Student held over death of 20-yr-old college boy

GHAZIABAD: Six days after Vishal Shukla, 20-year-old engineering student, was allegedly murdered by a group of students from his college, Hapur police made the first arrest in the case on Monday. Cops arrested the main accused, Vivek, who is the only student of the college to have been named in the FIR lodged in Pilakhuwa police station. The September 10 FIR was lodged under sections 147, 304, 323, 504 and 506.
Vivek was arrested from his home in Duhri village by a team of cops on Monday evening. Other students, suspected to be involved in the alleged murder, are from Hapur and Bulandshahr and are on the run, cops said.
Police also received Vishal's postmortem report on Monday. Cops said the report mentions the victim's cause of death as "coma resulting from head injuries".
"Vivek is being interrogated and will spill the beans sooner than later. The other students are also being investigated. They will be arrested if we get enough evidence of their complicity in the events that led to Vishal's death," said Hapur DSP Raj Kumar Singh.
Police have, however, not invoked charges of murder against the accused so far. Cops said preliminary investigations are pointing towards the fact that the fight occurred between the two groups of students over a girl who also studies in the same university.
University officials said the suspected students were not attending college from the day after the incident. "The proctorial board will take any action against the suspected students only on the basis of police findings because we don't have investigative powers," said Col (Retd) D P Singh, registrar & director (administration), Monad University.
Family members, meanwhile, have not yet cremated Vishal's body, which has been kept at the mortuary in AIIMS. Relatives said the body has been preserved for conducting a second round of autopsy, if required, as they have not been given a copy of the September 10 postmortem report.
According to relatives, officials of the Nepal embassy have informed them that they were in constant touch with the Union home and external affairs ministries, apart from UP police. "We have not been informed of any developments in the case so far. We will not cremate the body till justice is done to him," said Chhaya, Vishal's sister.