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Solan youth bludgeons street food vendor to death in Mohali, nabbed
The youth bludgeoned the food vendor to death with a frying pan after he demanded his induction stove and mobile charger back, say Mohali police
A Balongi-based street food vendor was bludgeoned to death by a 25-year-old youth whom he had lent an induction stove and mobile adapter, police said on Saturday.
The accused, identified as Paras, attacked the victim, Joginder Singh Rana, 34, with a frying pan, hitting him repeatedly on the head and face, even severing his ear, after the latter sought his belongings back, said police.
Following the murder on Thursday, he fled to Himachal Pradesh. But police caught him from Kasol on Friday, cracking the brutal murder within 24 hours.
Hailing from Solan in Himachal, Paras works as a helper at a private company in Mohali.
As per the complaint by the victim’s younger brother Mohit Rana, who lives in Maloya and works as a wedding planner in Panchkula, Joginder used to sell fast food on a roadside cart near Shiv temple in Balongi.
Mohit said Paras used to trouble his brother often. He had borrowed an induction stove and a mobile phone adapter from his shop, but was not returning them.
On Thursday, his brother left for Paras’ paying guest accommodation in Balongi to get his belongings back. He left on his motorcycle around 3 pm, but never returned.
After repeated attempts to connect to his brother failed, he along with his uncle Kuldeep Singh visited Paras’ room, but it was locked.
On checking CCTV footage, they saw Joginder entering Paras’ room, but never stepping out. Later, Paras exited the room with a huge white plastic bag, tied with a rope, and left on Joginder’s motorcycle alone, Mohit said.
Dumped body in stream near TDI, Sector 117
According to Kharar DSP Karan Singh Sandhu, the accused stuffed the body in the plastic bag and dumped it in a stream near TDI, Sector 117.
He drove to Baddi, where he abandoned Joginder’s bike and boarded a bus to Kasol. While he was not carrying a mobile phone, police traced him to the hill town with the help of CCTV surveillance and nabbed him.
The victim’s body was also traced through CCTV cameras. But the frying pan used in the crime and the victim’s bike have yet to be recovered.
As per police sources, during interrogation, the accused revealed that he knew Joginder well, but he hurled abuses at him for not returning his belongings. Enraged by this, he attacked Joginder with a frying pan, leading to his death.
Paras is facing a case under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the Indian Penal Code.
He was produced before a court on Saturday and sent to four-day police remand for questioning and recovery of the murder weapon and the victim’s bike.
According to police, he was already facing cases of theft and drugs in Himachal. After being released on bail from a Himachal jail, he shifted to Balongi.
