Holi 2025: A sweet shop in Lucknow made a world record and entered its name in the India Book of Records.

A 39-year-old scientist working at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali, has 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.

Originally from Jharkhand’s Dhanbad, Dr 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. The scientist had recently undergone a kidney transplant and his sister had donated him one of her kidneys. He was on dialysis. Following the assault, he was rushed to a hospital where he died.

Dr Swarnkar lived in Mohali’s Sector 67 with his parents. A CCTV camera shows some local residents, Monty among them, standing near his bike. Abhishek then walks to the two-wheeler and starts removing it. An argument follows and Monty pushes Dr Swarnkar to the ground and starts hitting him. Their families intervene and pull Monty away. Dr Swarnkar is seen on the ground before other neighbours step out of their homes.

The scientist’s family has demanded strict action against the accused. Police said they had registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and were scanning the CCTV footage to plan further action.

The scientist’s tragic death has yet again put the spotlight on how parking disputes in major cities are turning violent. Earlier, videos of neighbours fighting over parking spaces in Delhi and other major cities have gone viral.

Actor Ranya Rao had prepared a meticulous plan to smuggle gold bars from Dubai and learnt how to conceal it in her clothing on YouTube, according to a document detailing the authorities’ objections to her bail request. The document also detailed how she was handed over the consignment that has landed her in trouble back home.

Ms Rao, the stepdaughter of a senior IPS officer, was arrested at the Bengaluru airport on March 3 with 14 kg gold concealed in her clothing, with authorities suspecting a huge syndicate behind the smuggling racket.

The actor, who had made her debut with the 2014 Kannada movie ‘Maanikya’, has also claimed that it was her first time smuggling gold.

She said during her interrogation that she had received an internet call and was asked to collect the gold from Gate A of Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport.

Ms Rao met a man in a white gown at the airport dining lounge and collected two packets from him, which contained the gold wrapped in a “thick tarpaulin plastic type” material, the document showed. The actor said the “unknown person” was six feet tall and had a wheatish complexion and a rough American accent. During the brief meeting, he took her to a corner and handed over the gold, she told the officers.

She, however, had done the planning well in advance. She had bought an adhesive tape from a stationary shop half a mile from the airport. Knowing she wouldn’t get scissors at the airport, she had cut pieces of the tape and kept them in her bag.

After receiving the gold in the dining lounge, she went straight to the nearby washroom to activate her next plan: conceal the gold. She opened the packets and found 12 gold bars and some cut pieces inside.

For ideas, she opened YouTube and went through tutorials on how to conceal gold in one’s body. She then wrapped the gold bars around her calf muscle and waist using the tape and put the smaller pieces in her shoes and pockets, the document read.

She reached Bengaluru on an Emirates flight on March 3 and had got through the airport security with the help of an officer who was involved in the racket, the DRI told the court yesterday.

Ms Rao was intercepted just a few steps away from the airport exit by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials after her frequent foreign travels raised suspicion. She was arrested after the gold bars were found in her possession.

The actor had made 27 trips to Dubai in the last six months and four of those were within a span of just 15 days.