Fight over matchbox turns fatal: Man dies after helmet assault in Delhi’s CP by delivery agents

The delivery executive called his friend over and the two men then allegedly assaulted Shivam, who was closer, hitting him repeatedly with a helmet, CCTV footage showed.

A 36-year-old businessman who was allegedly beaten with a bike helmet by two food delivery executives during an argument in Connaught Place last month has died, succumbing to his injuries 17 days later, police said on Tuesday.

36-year-old victim Shivam Gupta

Police identified the victim as Shivam Gupta, 36,a resident of east Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar, adding that two men suspected in the case have been arrested.

On January 2, he was in CP to attend a party when he and his friend got into an altercation with two men near E-Block, close to Rajiv Chowk Metro Station, said an investigator familiar with the matter.

The fight broke out after Shivam allegedly abused one of the delivery agents for refusing to give him a matchbox, following which his friend slapped the agent, according to the information provided to police by the two suspects. All four were allegedly inebriated at the time.

The delivery executive called his friend over and the two men then allegedly assaulted Shivam, who was closer, hitting him repeatedly with a helmet, CCTV footage showed.

Police received a PCR call about the incident at around 1:30 am on January 3 and found Shivam lying on a service road, unconscious and bleeding. His friend was seen trying to revive him.

He was rushed to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital, where doctors found multiple injuries on his body. Police said that he was unfit to give a statement.

Due to the severity of injuries, Shivam was shifted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital on January 4. Over two weeks later, Gupta succumbed to his injuries on January 19, his family said.

Police said a first information report was initially registered under Section 110 (culpable homicide) and Section 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and sections on murder were added later.

Talking about the incident, his father, Anil Kant Gupta, told media on Tuesday that the family had been extremely worried on the day of the incident when did not return home that night.

“I kept calling him, but there was no response. Later, the police informed us that he had been admitted to hospital,” he said, adding that he blamed the friend for not informing the family about the incident.

“His friend was with him at the time of the incident but he did not share that my son was hit with a helmet. The doctors at Lok Nayak also did not know about it. If we had known that there was a clot in his brain due to the helmet, we would have taken measures accordingly,” he said.