A cab driver was killed while his friend was injured during a clash between two groups over an old rivalry in Kharar late on Thursday night.
The deceased has been identified as Rakesh Kumar, 28, who was a resident of Kharar. Police said he used to drive a cab and was planning to migrate to Australia.
Eight people, including a woman, have been booked for the murder: Madhav Gupta, Suman Sharma, Gopal Krishan, Deepanshu Singla, Manak Aggarwal, Rajesh Kumar, Rahul and Kiran Bala, all residents of Kharar. The first three have been arrested while the remaining are at large.
Jatinder Kumar, who was injured in the clash, told police that he along with Rakesh and others used to organise kanwar yatra to Haridwar every year. The other group also used to organise a separate yatra from the area. Jatinder said the other group was holding a grudge against them for the past couple of months, which led to the attack on Thursday night.
According to the FIR, Rakesh and Jatinder were holding some discussions with their friends near Arya College in Kharar around 10:30pm, when Deepanshu, Manak and Rajesh reached there on a bike and hurled abuses at them before leaving.
Rakesh called up Deepanshu and objected to it, after which the trio allegedly returned with knives and iron rods and attacked Rakesh. When Jatinder tried to intervene, he was also attacked. Later, other members of the rival group also reached there with baseball bats and sticks and started hitting Rakesh and Jatinder. Deepanshu’s mother Kiran Bala was also present there and kept instigating the group, stated the FIR.
{{/usCountry}}Rakesh called up Deepanshu and objected to it, after which the trio allegedly returned with knives and iron rods and attacked Rakesh. When Jatinder tried to intervene, he was also attacked. Later, other members of the rival group also reached there with baseball bats and sticks and started hitting Rakesh and Jatinder. Deepanshu’s mother Kiran Bala was also present there and kept instigating the group, stated the FIR.
{{/usCountry}}Later, the two injured men were rushed to the civil hospital in Kharar, from where Rakesh was shifted to Chandigarh, but he succumbed to his injuries. Jatinder is undergoing treatment for his fractured right leg. Inspector Ashok Kumar, station house officer, Kharar City, said the suspects are drug addicts and three of them have been arrested.