'Tu complain karega?': IISER scientist dies after assault in Mohali parking dispute

A 39-year-old scientist working at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali, died after a parking dispute near his rented home in Sector 67 turned violent. Dr Abhishek Swarnkar had an altercation with neighbour Monty on Tuesday night and the latter allegedly pushed him to the ground and punched him.

Dr Swarnkar was attacked after he warned Monty that he would file a complaint against him. Shouting "Tu complain karega?" the accused pushed the scientist to the ground and hit him.

His mother, Malti Devi, narrated the harrowing events on Tuesday night. Accusing Monty and his family of harassing them over parking, she said, "They regularly bothered us, don't park here, don't park there. He (Abhishek) returned from IISER (that night) and parked his bike. They asked him to remove it and there was an argument."

"My son came upstairs. And they shouted, 'We will blow up the bike'. I told them, 'It is in front of you, blow it up'. My husband was downstairs and was talking to them. My son also went downstairs and moved his bike to show them how difficult it would be to take it out if he parked where they wanted him to," the elderly woman said, while speaking to NDTV.

Malti Devi informed that the accused Monty lived next door and that they had been residing in the Sector 67 locality of Mohali since December 2023. "When we came here, we were unaware of the arrangement that allowed people to park just in front of their houses. My son kept shifting his bike from one place to another, as we were harassed by the neighbours over parking," she said.

Who was Dr Abhishek Swarnkar?

Originally from Jharkhand's Dhanbad, Dr Abhishek Swarnkar was a distinguished scientist whose work was featured in international journals. He worked in Switzerland and had recently returned to India and joined IISER as a project scientist. He was living in Mohali's Sector 67 with his parents.

He was the lead author of a research paper published in the international journal Science in 2016 while working with a group of international researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, US.

According to the officials, Dr Swarnkar had recently undergone a kidney transplant. He was also on dialysis. Following the clash, his condition reportedly deteriorated, eventually leading to his death.

The incident was recorded on CCTV

According to the visuals captured in the CCTV, some local residents, Monty among them, were standing near his bike. The scientist walked to the two-wheeler and started moving his bike. A verbal spat followed and Monty pushed Dr Swarnkar to the ground and started hitting him. Their families intervened and pulled Monty away. Dr Swarnkar fell on the ground before other neighbours stepped out of their homes.

Despite being rushed to the hospital after the attack, Dr Swarnkar succumbed to his injuries. His family has demanded strict action against the accused. Police informed they have registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and were scanning the CCTV footage to plan further action. The accused neighbour has been missing since the incident and efforts are on to arrest him.