Noida student attacked by carjackers dies

NOIDA: A 25-year-old BTech student succumbed on Friday night to injuries sustained earlier in the week in an attack by a gang of suspected carjackers, who had repeatedly hit him on the head with a blunt object, possibly a pistol butt, to incapacitate him and drive away with his SUV.

It’s the second fatal attack by suspected carjackers in the area in seven months – on January 6 this year, Gaurav Chandel, a private executive returning home from his office in Gurgaon, was attacked by a gang at Parthala Chowk, less than 10km from the spot in Sector 62 where the student was attacked last Wednesday night.
Akshay Kalra, who studied in fourth year at Amity University, was said to have lost a lot of blood by the time he was wheeled into the hospital by police. A thalassemia patient, he had undergone blood transfusion just two days before the attack on him.
Although hospital authorities were tightlipped about the cause of death, police sources said Akshay had deep gashes on the head and ribs. Akshay had left his Sector 62 home in his Hyundai Creta around 10.30pm on Wednesday and told his mother he would be back soon after a short drive. A couple of hours later, his father received a call from police – Akshay was found injured on the road on a desolate stretch near Varun apartments on an internal Sector 62 road, just 200 metres from his house.
Police said that just before he lost consciousness, Akshay had told them he was attacked by a group of men with the butt of a pistol. They drove off with his Creta, the modus operandi bearing stark resemblance with the attack on Chandel, who was found dead on the road. His brand new Kia Seltos was taken by the gang. Notorious gangster Ashu Jaat, the main accused in this case, was arrested on Saturday.
Police said they were scanning CCTV footage sourced from cameras installed in housing societies that line the road Akshay had taken. The cops claimed they had come across a Creta in one of the clips but are yet to verify if it was the one that Akshay was driving.
Additional DCP (Noida) Ranvijay Singh agreed that the case had become challenging with no one left to identify the accused. “He had suffered a serious head injury. Yes, he had thalassemia too, but it was the head injury that caused his death. He had been attacked with a hard and blunt object,” Singh added. Police have not ruled out an iron rod or a stick being used in the attack.
DCP (Noida) Rajesh S said four teams were trying to identify the accused. “We have got some clues in the case. But it has to be seen if the investigation is proceeding in the right direction,” he added.
Akshay’s father Gulshan Kalra, a senior LIC executive working in Kanpur, told a news conference the culprits needed to be arrested and given exemplary punishment. “I couldn’t save my son,” he sobbed. “But I want those responsible for his death to be brought to book. The authorities should ensure exemplary punishment for them so that other youths in the society do not meet the same fate as my son,” Gulshan said.
Akshay was as an intelligent student who would come up with innovative ideas for not only his father but also his sister, who is based in the US. “He had an idea for everything, every profession. He was very bright and maintained good relations with everybody. He was extremely focused on his studies,” Gulshan said.