Four sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment for 2020 Gurugram murder

During the trial, the convicts pleaded for leniency, citing clean criminal records and aged parents dependent on them. However, the court rejected their plea, observing that the murder over a petty quarrel did not warrant clemency

A city court sentenced four men to rigorous life imprisonment for murdering a man with a knife and broken beer bottles after a petty argument over fetching a bottle of liquor in January 2020, police said on Saturday. The court of additional sessions judge Gagan Geet Kaur also imposed a fine of ₹10,000 on each convict while pronouncing them guilty under sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

A city court sentenced four men to rigorous life imprisonment for murdering a man with a knife and broken beer bottles after a petty argument over fetching a bottle of liquor in January 2020, police said on Saturday. (Representational Photo)

The convicts—Devender Lal, 32; Sanjay Rawat, 29; and Vijay Rawat, 31—were originally from Bhim Nagar in Sector 6, Parvatiya Colony in Faridabad, while 30-year-old Basant Singh was from Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand, police said. They added that the case began with a violent altercation on Old Railway Road near Bhim Nagar on January 6, 2020.

According to public relations officer of Gurugram police, Sandeep Kumar, the incident took place at around 9pm on January 5 when Devender, a restaurant manager, assaulted the 23-year-old cook, Bajrangi Sah, during a drunken outburst after Sah refused to fetch him liquor from a nearby shop. Seeking revenge, Sah called his associates, the deceased, 22-year-old Manoj Kumar, and Ravinder Yadav, 24.

The groups clashed near Bhim Nagar at about 12.30am on January 6, almost three hours after the cook was assaulted. “A brawl broke out during which Devender and his associates first assaulted Manoj mercilessly with bricks and stones. Later, they stabbed him multiple times with a knife and broke beer bottles in the chest and abdomen and fled from the spot,” said Kumar. Bajrangi and Ravinder were also stabbed during the assault.

All three victims were rushed to Paras Hospital in Sector 43, where Manoj was declared dead on arrival. Following Bajrangi’s complaint, a murder case was registered at Gurugram City police station the same day. The investigation led to the arrest of all four convicts.

During the trial, the convicts pleaded for leniency, citing clean criminal records and aged parents dependent on them. However, the court rejected their plea, observing that the murder over a petty quarrel did not warrant clemency.