‘Drunk’ man bites off 27-year-old’s tongue during brawl
While the incident took place on the intervening night between Saturday and Sunday, the victim, Harpreet Singh, could give his statement only on Monday due to his condition, said Dera Bassi police
A 27-year-old man is recovering after his allegedly drunk neighbour bit off his tongue during an altercation near Harkrishan Public School in Dera Bassi, said police.
While the incident took place on the intervening night between Saturday and Sunday, the victim, Harpreet Singh, could give his statement only on Monday due to his condition, said police.
Along with Vipul Garg, the main accused, who runs a cement and iron bar shop in Zirakpur, police have also booked his brother Rishav Garg and an unidentified accomplice for beating up the victim. All three remain at large.
Victim was returning from a wedding
Harpreet’s father, Des Raj, an auto mechanic in Zirakpur, said his son and his friend Jung Bahadur had gone to attend the wedding of a common friend’s sister in Dera Bassi on Saturday night
On their way back home, Harpreet stopped his motorcycle near a park next to their house to relieve himself. Meanwhile, their neighbour Vipul, who was returning from a birthday party in an inebriated condition, rammed his car into another car parked near the park, he alleged.
Des Raj told the police that as Harpreet knew Vipul, he asked him to leave to avoid trouble, following which a man sitting on the front seat started hurling abuses at him. Both Vipul and his friend then stepped out of the car and started manhandling my son, following which he made a failed bid to escape on his motorcycle, the father alleged.
Amid the melee, Vipul called his elder brother Rishav too and the trio thrashed Harpreet. “Vipul proceeded to grab my son by the throat, following which his tongue popped out and Vipul brutally bit it off. They also assaulted Bahadur when he tried to intervene,” Des Raj detailed.
Referred from hospital to hospital
According to police, seeing Harpreet bleeding, the accused, along with Bahadur, took him to the Dera Bassi civil hospital from where he was referred to GMCH, Sector 32, Chandigarh, and further to PGIMER.
Des Raj said at PGIMER, doctors told him that they will be able to operate on Harpreet only after three days, following which he took his son to a private hospital in Panchkula, where the severed tongue was reattached.
Meanwhile, Dera Bassi station house officer (SHO) Jaskanwal Singh said the two groups had a fight over parking.
He said they had launched an investigation to arrest the accused, who had been booked under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (acts done in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.