Shillong, Oct 30:The death of the grandson of senior advocate VK Jindal in a drug-related incident here has revealed a web of a group comprising both men and women, operating to target vulnerable youths, including minors.
A woman identified as Rina Kharshiing, and her accomplice Ralph Nongrum, both engaged in the supply of drugs, were arrested on October 28 in connection with the incident.
They were sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
Jindal on Thursday (Oct 29) narrated the incident involving his grandson, Ekansh Jindal and the subsequent arrest of the accused.
On March 31 this year, the body of minor Ekansh, was found in the house of the accused, who had initially misled police that they found him in an unconscious state and that they brought him to their house.
The first investigating officer (IO), TM Marak, believed the version of the accused and they led him to Umpling bridge for evidence without knowing that the accused may have destroyed evidence or removed the same
Since nothing was recovered, only an unnatural death case was registered at Rynjah Police Station.
Subsequently, the IO submitted the report that mentioned that during the course of the inquiry, examination of partial postmortem and toxicology reports, there was the presence of ‘tramadol’ (drug) in the viscera of the deceased and the actual cause of the death is due to ‘diffuse pulmonary edema’.
The IO suggested the need to convert the UD case into a regular one.
NDPS sections were added in the regular case ( US 8 (c)/22/29 NDPS Act.R/w 77 JJ Act).
The investigation was handed over to DySP HN Shullai.
The examination of the call records of the phones of the deceased and the accused revealed that many calls were made between them.
The medical report revealed that there was no external injury, but there were multiple needle puncture marks in both right and left elbows.
Besides, there were internal injuries on the jaws, which cannot be due to a fall as claimed by the accused.
A clarification from the NEIGRIHMS autopsy section revealed that the presence of ‘tramadol’ was enough to cause the death.
According to the report, diffuse pulmonary edema could also have happened due to the presence of tramadol.
Overdose of the drug was mentioned according to the report under quantity.
The forensic experts at the Hyderabad laboratory examined communications and text messages between the accused and the deceased, which were frequent.
The report also revealed that the accused Ralph Nongrum was in constant touch with the co-accused Rina Kharshiing, who supplied 400 gm of drugs to Ralph on the day of the incident
With the evidence, and subsequent issuance of notice under section 35 of BNSS, 2023 new section 123 under BNSS was added on October 28, and both the accused were arrested by the IO.
After production of the accused, the judicial magistrate remanded them to judicial custody for 14 days.
The court also directed the district legal service authority to provide legal assistance to the accused.
The findings hint at the existence of a drug mafia or gang of people targeting the youths, which, according to the parents need to be stopped to prevent similar incidents.
Appeal of the grandfather
When contacted, Jindal, the grandfather of Ekansh, corroborated the police and medical reports.
He appealed to all the parents to be careful about their minor children and keep strict watch on their activities.
The lawyer urged the district administration and the law enforcement agencies to crack down on drug rackets to save future generations.
Regarding his grandson, Jindal said that Ekansh studied till class VIII in St Edmund’s School.
Later, he pursued education at the Assam Valley School, Tezpur.
“He appeared in the class X examination and secured more than 70% marks with two letters. Besides being strong and healthy, he was a good swimmer, cricketer and horse-rider”, Jindal added.
