Delhi: Man beaten to death over honking and parking car in Saket

The suspects fled the crime scene, which was just outside a police booth at gate number 2 of the Metro station, after attacking the trio and their friend around 1.30am Saturday.

A 34-year-old man was killed and his two friends, both brothers, were injured after they were attacked with concrete flooring blocks and stones allegedly by a group of six men following an altercation over honking and parking of a car near Saket Metro station in south Delhi early Saturday.

One of attackers, identified as 22-year-old Priyanshu (single name), has been arrested, police said on Tuesday, adding that they were making efforts to nab the other five suspects. (Representative image)

The suspects fled the crime scene, which was just outside a police booth at gate number 2 of the Metro station, after attacking the trio and their friend around 1.30 am Saturday. One of attackers, identified as 22-year-old Priyanshu (single name), has been arrested, police said on Tuesday, adding that they were making efforts to nab the other five suspects. Priyanshu is employed as a salesman with a private bank and is a resident of Saidulajab in south Delhi, they said.

Mohit Kumar, brother of the slain man, 34-year-old Rohit Kumar, meanwhile, hit out at the police and those injured in the fight and alleged that neither party got Rohit timely medical help, which resulted in his death.

Police said Rohit succumbed to head injuries at Safdarjung hospital on Saturday night, nearly 20 hours after the assault. He was admitted to the hospital by Mohit around 9.30am Saturday, almost eight hours after the attack, police said.

Mohit said Rohit were with his friends -- brothers Rahul and Ashu Yadav, and Amit Jain -- at the time of the attack, and they left an injured Rohit at the incident spot and fled. While Rahul and Ashu went to a nearby private hospital for treatment, they did not take his grievously injured brother along, he alleged.

Mohit alleged that even the local police did not admit Rohit to a hospital, despite being informed around 3am that a person was lying injured and bleeding near the Metro station gate.

“My brother would have survived had he been taken to a hospital on time either by his friends or the police. His friends first left him on a pavement outside a chemist’s shop. Around 6am, Rahul and Ashu returned and shifted Rohit to their nearby taxi services office, where they left him on the floor. Despite knowing that my brother was injured, they neither informed me nor took him to a hospital,” said Mohit.

Refuting the allegations, a senior officer said the local police were not told about the quarrel or that Rohit had suffered head injuries in the fight. They were in fact told that Rohit was drunk and he may have slipped outside the Metro station gate.

Police’s account and timeline of events also vastly differed from that of the family.

Deputy commissioner of police (south) Benita Mary Jaiker said on July 16 (Saturday) at 2.53am, the Saket police station received a call saying a person was lying near gate number 2 of Saket Metro station. The caller told police that the person was bleeding profusely. When the police arrived, they didn’t find the man as he was shifted to Safdarjung hospital.

“On July 17 (Sunday) at 4.49am, information regarding the death of an injured Rohit (Kumar) was received from Safdarjung hospital. On further inquiry, it was found that Rohit was injured in a quarrel, which took place near the Saket Metro station gate at about 1.30am on July 16,” she said.

Police said Rahul was called in and based his statement, a case of murder, attempt to commit culpable homicide and common intention was registered under Indian Penal Code sections 302, 308, and 34 and investigation was started, they said.

Rahul, who took stitches to his head, said on the night of the incident, he came in his Maruti Swift Dzire to meet his brother Anshu, Rohit and Jain near the Metro station. They asked him to have drinks with them in the car and then went to Nizamuddin to have food.

Around 1.30am, Rahul said they returned to the metro station and found a man standing in the spot where they wanted to park their car. Ashu, who was driving the car, honked and asked the man to move.

“The man started abusing us. When I got out and confronted him, he ran towards the rear of the station entrance, where his five friends were present. An altercation broke out between us and one of the six men hit me in the head with a concrete flooring tile. I fell unconscious and when i came to, I saw my brother and Rohit injured. I rushed to a nearby private hospital for treatment on my friend’s bike,” said Rahul.

During the probe, hundreds of CCTV cameras were checked to identify and nab the suspects. Arrested suspect Priyanshu confirmed that the fight had started over honking and parking, the police said. efforts are on to nab the others.