Star, 39, who had just had a kidney transplant, dies after being punched during parking dispute with neighbour

Doctor Abhishek Swarnkar died on Tuesday night, (March 11), after allegedly being pushed to the ground and punched by a man known only as Monty.

He was a respected scientist who was working at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER). HIs work was featured in international journals.

He had recently undergone a kidney transplant and his sister had donated one of her kidneys to him, which meant he was on dialysis. At the time of his death, he had been living in the Indian city of Mohali with his parents while he recovered. Following the assault, he was rushed to a hospital but he died shortly after arrival.

The incident was captured on CCTV, according to local media. The footage shows local residents, Monty among them, standing near Dr Swarnkar’s bike. When he tried to move his bike away, an argument broke out and Monty pushed Dr Swarnkar to the ground. He then started hitting him. Their families then intervened and pulled Monty away. Dr Swarnkar could be seen laying on the ground.

Local police said they had registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and were reviewing the CCTV footage to plan further action. They said the accused, Monty, is on the run and raids are being carried out to find and arrest him. Police are also tracking Monty's phone to try to locate him.

The victim’s family has demanded strict action against the accused. Speaking to NDTV, his mum, Malti Devi, said she lost her son to a mindless brawl. 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 (Dr Swarnkar) 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 son got agitated. My husband was downstairs and was talking to them. My son went downstairs. He moved his bike to show them how difficult it would be to take it out if he parked where they wanted him to.”

Devi also said they had lived in their rented home since December 2023 and the accused, Monty, lived next door. "We did not know the system then, that people park right outside their homes. My son kept moving his bike from one spot to another as some or the other person asked him to. We felt harassed that no matter where the bike was parked, someone had a problem," she said.

On Tuesday night, Dr Swarnkar alledgedly told Monty and his family members that he would complain about their constant harassment over parking. "He (Monty) started shouting, 'will you complain?' and pushed him hard,” Devi said.

On X, colleague Bharat Tandon paid tribute to the late star and blasted the actions of the man who supposedly assaulted him. “What the f*** is wrong with people? How can you just assault anyone for a random reason, knowing that the person is a sensitive patient? Abhishek was my labmate throughout my PhD at @IISERPune and a brilliant scientist. He just got killed for a random reason”, he wrote.