London – An Indian PhD scholar died in a fatal road accident after being run over by a truck. The 33-year-old Cheistha Kochhar who was pursuing a doctoral degree from the London School of Economics (LSE) died after a truck ran over by a truck while she was cycling back to her apartment in London. Former CEO of Niti Aayog Amitabh Kant took to X, formally known as Twitter and expressed condolences to the family of the victim. Cheistha's father retired Lieutenant General Dr SP Kochhar also confirmed her demise in a post on LinkedIn. 

Cheistha Kochar worked with me on the #LIFE programme in @NITIAayog. She was in the #Nudge unit and had gone to do her Ph.D. in behavioural science at #LSE Passed away in a terrible traffic incident while cycling in London. She was bright, brilliant & brave and always full of life. Gone away too early. RIP," Kant wrote on X, formally known as Twitter sharing old photographs with the victim. Kochhar had previously worked with Niti Aayog and was part of Kant's team for a project called “Mission Life”. 

Cheistha's parent to collect her mortal remains 

According to ANI, Mission LIFE is an India-led global mass movement to nudge individual and community action to protect and preserve the environment. Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Kochhar (Retd) stated that he is still in London and is trying to collect the mortal remains of his daughter. “I am still in London trying to collect the remains of my daughter, Cheistha Kochhar. She was run over by a truck on 19 Mar while cycling back from LSE, where she was doing her PhD. It has devasted us and her large circle of friends,” Lieutenant General Kochhar wrote on LinkedIn. Cheistha was enrolled as a doctoral candidate at the LSE since September last year. According to her LinkedIn profile, she has worked as a Senior Advisor in the National Behavioural Insights Unit of India, Niti Aayog from June 2021 to April 2023. In the past, she has also worked as Associate Director at the Centre for Social and Behaviour Change. The woman has also studied at University, Ashoka University, and the Universities of Pennsylvania and Chicago.