Indian guitarist Himanshu Sharma, popular among friends and audience as Shaggy, has been found dead in his apartment in Dubai, a local media report said on Friday.
He lived in Garhoud, about 14 km from Dubai, and died on Wednesday. The Dubai Police confirmed Sharma’s death, Khaleej Times reported.
The 1996-born artiste was doing his internship as a fifth-year architecture student at Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE Dubai Campus).
Quoting a statement from MAHE, the Khaleej Times report said: “The University has been informed today by the Police of the tragic death of Himanshu Sharma, a student of MAHE Dubai. It’s a moment of shock for all of us at the University. We are awaiting further information on the same.”
The police are learnt to have referred his body to the forensic medicine department and the report showed no irregularity in the guitarist’s death.
“His body will be handed over to his family after the completion of administrative procedures,” the police said.
The guitarist played for local band Metal Head and was popular in the Dubai Academic City, his friend and fellow rock artist Gaurav Manna told the UAE daily.
“He was popular in college, too, as he played guitar with a couple of successful bands like Slaves of Conspiracy and Nutmeg,” said Manna, adding: “He was very friendly to everyone. It was always easy being around him. Even a stranger could become best friends with him in five minutes. His death affected everyone around him, close or not.”
From his Facebook profile, it seems Sharma had been in the Middle East for a long time, having studied in Indian School Bahrain.