Hamirpur (HP) (PTI): A first year MTech student of the National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, was found dead inside his hostel room on Monday, likely of drug overdose, police said.

A case of culpable homicide has been registered under section 304 of IPC in connection with the death, said Hamirpur Superintendent of Police Aakriti Sharma.

Police have arrested three NIT students and a fourth doing BEd for allegedly distributing 'chitta,' a form of heroin, on campus. The four have been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, Sharma said.

Police have reportedly questioned about a dozen students living in the hostel and recovered drugs in various quantities in raids. Such raids were conducted in girls' hostels too.

A forensic team from Mandi attributed the death of the student to consumption of some intoxicant.

The death comes amid the NIT annual festival, 'Hill Fair', which has been going on for the last three days.

According to police, several students were up till late Sunday night dancing to the DJ on the institute's campus.

Around 4 am, the deceased student got a call on his mobile. He was later found dead in his room, students said.

The official spokesman of the institute said the student was found dead when his friends went to wake him up for breakfast.

A health team which came with the police declared the student dead.

The father of the student has called into question the security arrangements on the NIT campus and demanded an answer on how drugs made their way inside.

The NIT director did not respond to the phone calls.

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Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.

The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.

On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."

His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.

In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”

Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”

Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.

After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.

“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.

“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”

Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.

Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay. 

Chaotic end to a poor season

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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.

It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.

Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.

Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.