Two held after Nalagarh man dies in ‘forced drug intake’

In a suspected case of drug overdose, a 31-year-old youth from Nalagarh died after allegedly being forced to consume an excessive quantity of drugs by two acquaintances last evening. According to police, Saurabh Sharma, a resident of Dattowal village, was brought to the Community Health Centre in an unconscious state, where doctors declared him brought dead. The Nalagarh police received a complaint soon after from the victim’s brother, Kuldeep Sharma.

Kuldeep alleged his brother was coerced into consuming a high dose of drugs by his friends Satnam Singh alias Satti and Sanjay Khan alias Badshah, which led to his death. He claimed the three were seen together shortly before the incident. The deceased was employed as an assistant to an advocate.

Acting on the complaint, the Nalagarh police registered a case under Section 105, 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Both accused — Satnam Singh, a resident of Tikkar village, and Sanjay Khan of Nalagarh — were arrested.

Baddi ASP Ashok Verma said the postmortem report is awaited to determine the exact substance that led to Sharma’s death.