Staff Reporter

ITANAGAR, 28 Aug: In a tragic road mishap, a final-year student of the North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology (NERIST) died after his scooter allegedly hit a road divider in Nirjuli near here, police said.

The accident occurred on NH 415, near the NERIST South Block, in the early hours of Thursday, they said.

According to the police, a Nirjuli police team was conducting naka checking near the police station between 2 am and 5 am when, at around 4:30 am, it noticed that an accident had occurred on the highway before a U-turn.

The personnel immediately rushed to the spot and found a man lying injured on the road after his scooter had collided with the road divider.

The injured man was evacuated in a police vehicle to the Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) in Naharlagun for treatment. However, doctors declared him dead on arrival, police said.

The deceased has been identified as Gagan Paul, a resident of Cooch Behar in West Bengal. He was a final-year agricultural engineering student at the NERIST.

Police said Paul was riding a scooter bearing an Arunachal Pradesh registration number when the accident occurred.

NERIST authorities subsequently submitted a written FIR at the Nirjuli police at around 11 am on Thursday.

An unnatural death case has been registered at the Nirjuli police station and further investigation is underway, police added.