New York: A candle light vigil was organised on Monday by friends and family of a 20-year-old NRI youth, who was allegedly murdered in a house in south-east Delhi two days ago, demanding punishment for his killers. Anmol Sarna, a US Citizen and a resident of Hicksville near New York City was on a vacation in India and was to return to the US next month.

Nadiya Chadha, a graduate student at Columbia University and a cousin of the deceased who had organized the vigil, said over 150 close friends and relatives had assembled at the Triangle Park in Hicksville, Long Island near New York City to demand justice and punishment to the killers. Chadha said that the help of local Congressmen and Senators were sought to find out the motive of the gruesome murder and action against the murders.

"We had approached the American Embassy in New Delhi through the elected federal officials in the US as the victim was a US citizen and also we fear that the family may not get justice in the case." Sarna was killed on Saturday night after being hit with a heavy object during a scuffle at a party. He had suffered several wounds on his head and body and later succumbed to his injuries during treatment on Saturday night.

"It was a not a party as it was made out to be. Sarna had gone to meet someone there and there were only four persons in the house when the incident happened and neighbours saw a youth driving away minutes before Sarna came running out drenched in blood. Sarna had a 15-inch-long cut obviously hit by a sharp blunt object," she narrated.

"We appeal to the US Ambassador to India Ms Nancy Powell to directly intervene and make sure the case against the US citizen is not covered up by the local authorities. The killers should be punished and we shall rest until that happens. We will be stepping up our pressure through ministry of external affairs and ministry of overseas Indian affairs to bring out the truth in the case," she said.