Two suffer stab wounds in Delhi Navratri boom box fight; 2, including minor held

Police said the incident took place around 4am on Monday, when the two groups were returning after fetching the religious flame from the temple in Kalkaji

New Delhi

Police said an FIR was registered under sections of attempt to murder. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

In the run-up to Navrati, a tiff over boom box supremacy on roads led to a clash between two northeast Delhi groups, ending with two persons of a group suffering stab wounds near Rajghat on the Ring Road in central Delhi, police said on Wednesday. They arrested a 21-year-old man, who works as a food delivery agent, and apprehended a 17-year-old juvenile in connection with the stabbing incidents.

Police said the incident took place around 4am on Monday, when the two groups were returning after fetching the religious flame from the temple in Kalkaji. The groups got into an altercation over who would play louder music, which eventually led to a heated argument and escalated into violence.

Deputy commissioner of police (central) Nidhi Valsan said that they came to know of the incident after the Lok Nayak Hospital informed the IP Estate police of two injured men with stab wounds being admitted to the hospital. One of the victims, Vinod, 29, suffered minor injuries and was able to give his statement to the police while a second victim, Mohit, 26, suffered multiple stab wounds to his chest and backside.

Police said an FIR was registered under sections of attempt to murder.

An officer investigating the case, requesting anonymity, said that according to Vinod’s statement, Mohit, other friends and he were returning to Seelampur, when another procession tried to overtake them on the same route. This then turned into a competition on who would play louder music, the officer said.

“When the two groups reached near Gandhi Museum, a hot argument and altercation ensued between the complainant and two members of the rival group. During the quarrel, the rival party attacked Vinod and Mohit with a knife, due to which they suffered stab wounds. The attackers fled the crime scene, and the injured men were admitted to the hospital,” the officer said, and added that a case of attempt to murder was registered, and investigation was taken up.

During the probe, the DCP said, investigators scanned CCTV cameras of the routes taken by the two procession groups. They found that the group that attacked the two men had come from Khajoori Khas. Through human intelligence gathering, the location of the group in Khajoori Khas was traced and two suspects were also identified.

“Our team conducted multiple raids and finally nabbed the two suspects, one of who turned out to be a juvenile, aged 17. The adult suspect, identified as Kanhaiya alias Vicky, 21, was arrested while the minor boy was apprehended in the case. Kanhaiya, who works as a food delivery boy, revealed that the complainant party first assaulted them, and in the heat of the moment, he stabbed the two men,” DCP Valsan said.

The police said that they also recovered the knife that the attackers threw away following the fight on their way to Khajoori Khas.