A 30-year-old man was bludgeoned to death and his friends beaten up by a group of young men in Shahdara here on Friday evening following an altercation between the two parties over a minor accident. Three persons have been arrested in connection with the incident so far.
Ashok Nagar resident Tarun had gone to attend the retirement party of his friend Naveen's father at Jyoti Colony in Shahdara along with friends Amit and Ravinder. They drove to a kiosk near Rathi Mill on Loni Road around midnight to smoke.
While Ravinder, Naveen and Amit were smoking, Tarun went behind the kiosk to urinate.
In the meantime, two young men on a motorcycle came to the kiosk and accidentally hit Ravinder on the foot. This led to an altercation between the groups and soon turned into a fist-fight. Tarun soon joined his friends in the brawl.
Meanwhile, a cyclist, who was also present at the spot, informed the friends of the motorcyclists, who were present at the Janta Hotel nearby, about the fight. On seeing a large number of people coming towards them from the hotel, the four friends tried to escape, but Tarun stumbled and fell.
He was caught by the crowd and beaten up with bricks, stones and wooden blocks. Amit later told the police in his complaint that he saw a man in an orange T-shirt pushing Tarun to the ground and repeatedly hitting him with a boulder, causing him to bleed.
At this, Amit and Ravinder rushed towards Tarun and lay on him, begging for his life. But the assailant hit Amit on the head with the boulder as well.
Meanwhile, a police patrolling team reached the spot and caught Anshu, Lucky and Somnath. The others managed to escape.
Tarun, who was bleeding profusely and had passed out, was taken to Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital where he was declared brought dead. Amit, who works in a private firm in Gurgaon, also sustained head injuries. Ravinder escaped with minor bruises on his knee and elbow.
Tarun is survived by a wife and a three-year-old son. He worked in the electrical department of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
Anshu and Lucky are both residents of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. Somnath, a resident of Shahdara, works at the Janta Hotel.
