‘He Was So Full of Life’: Friends of Amity Student Killed in Noida

Akshay Kalra, passed away on 4 September, two days after he was assaulted in an alleged carjacking incident.

Amity student Akshay Kalra’s friends talk about how he was ‘full of life’ and undeterred in the face of adversity.

(Photo: Accessed and edited by The Quint)

Video Editor: Sandeep Suman

“I was talking to him on the evening of 2 September and, later at night, I came to know he had been brutally assaulted. Two days later, he passed away. All this we could not have imagined in our wildest dreams,” says Dilpreet, who lost his dear friend two months ago.

Akshay Kalra, a 25-year-old student of Amity University, passed away on 4 September, two days after he was assaulted in an alleged carjacking incident in Noida.

Noida police arrested five people in connection with the alleged carjacking and murder of Kalra, following an encounter on Tuesday, 27 October.

Two others were subsequently arrested on Tuesday in connection with the attempted sale of Kalra’s vehicle, that was stolen by the accused.

Meanwhile, Akshay’s friends are struggling to cope with the loss.

Undeterred, Full of Life, Curious

Ullash Srivastava shared with The Quint that in 2010, when he first moved into their colony, Akshay was the first person to come to him and ask him if he wanted to play with them.

He also shares that when they were younger, Akshay was the one who taught him to not litter.

“If you change yourself, the society will change itself too,” Akshay used to say, recalled Ullash.

“I knew Akshay from the age of 10. We went to the same school together... we lived close to each other. He was my snooker partner and fellow traveller to the hills,” said Hardik fondly.

Hardik also shared that Akshay, who was diagnosed with Thalassemia Major, a blood disorder, never let his illness bring him down.

All of Akshay’s friends recall how he was simply “full of life”, and undeterred in the face of adversity.

For Akshay, his family was the most important. He was curious, loved travelling, and was an excellent cook. But what Akshay is remembered for, with astounding admiration, by those close to him, is his indomitable spirit.