Man held for assaulting liquor salesman to death in Pataudi

A suspect has been arrested for allegedly beating to death a salesman at a liquor outlet and setting it on fire in Pataudi. The suspect was identified as Hem Singh of Daulatabad. His associate has also been identified and will be arrested soon. The salesman, Vashisht Prasad Chandra, was severely injured and later succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment.

Police on Thursday arrested a 39-year-old suspect for allegedly beating to death a salesman at a liquor outlet and setting it afire in Pataudi.

Man held for assaulting liquor salesman to death in Pataudi

Police said the incident took place in the early hours of June 15 near the liquor shop located on Daulatabad Kuni-Telpur Road in Pataudi.

The suspect was identified as Hem Singh of Daulatabad, police said. He was produced before a court on Thursday and was sent to 14-day judicial custody, said police, adding that his associate has also been identified and will be arrested soon. Police also recovered an SUV that was used in the crime.

Varun Dahiya, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said the suspect, along with his friend, visited the shop and bought a liquor bottle. He consumed it within an hour sitting inside his SUV and returned to the shop again to buy another bottle, but the store was closed for the day.

“Singh got agitated and got down from his SUV and started assaulting the salesman. He also picked up waste lying on the road and dumped it inside the shop and set it on fire,” the ACP said.

ACP Dahiya said the salesman, identified as Vashisht Prasad Chandra, was severely injured and was taken to a nearby private hospital. “After his condition turned critical, he was shifted to a multi-specialty hospital in Gurugram’s Sector 38. We had registered an assault case against the suspect at Pataudi police station and teams were formed to arrest him,” he said.

On Thursday, Chandra succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment and police added Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in the case and arrested the suspect from his village, said police.

Teams are conducting raids to arrest the second suspect, police added.

The store manager of the liquor shop, Sonu Kumar, who is the complainant in the case, said the incident took place around 2:30am, hours after the shop had downed its shutters.

“The suspect called Chandra on the phone but because it was late night and the shop was closed, he did not respond. Later, he set the shop on fire, forcing the victim to come out and severely assaulted him,” said Kumar.