Gurugram: 5 held for kidnapping, murdering friend over petty argument

According to police, the deceased was identified as Vinit Kumar, a resident of Khandewla village in Farrukhnagar where he owned an eatery shop.

Police have arrested five men for allegedly kidnapping and beating their 28-year-old friend to death in Farrukhnagar last week over an argument that broke out over payment for snacks to have a liquor party, police said on Friday.

The deceased. (HT)

According to police, the deceased was identified as Vinit Kumar, a resident of Khandewla village in Farrukhnagar where he owned an eatery shop. Kumar was attacked by six of his friends: Sagar alias Cheli (25), Sagar alias Chinu (28) Jogender alias Chiku, 25, all three from Khandewla village, Sangram (25) from Jatoli in Gurugram, and Prince (19) from Luhari in Jhajjar. The sixth suspect, Kapil, is currently on the run.

Police said Prince had fled to Uttarakhand, while the others had run off to Rajasthan after the murder. They were arrested on Thursday.

Sandeep Turan, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said that on the day before being assaulted, suspects had reached Vinit’s to purchase snacks for their liquor party but an argument broke out as he wanted them to pay for items.

“The minor argument turned into a scuffle and Kumar allegedly pushed Cheli. The latter then decided to take revenge and teach Kumar a lesson. On the night of January 17, Cheli and the other suspects kidnapped Kumar from Khandewla, took him to a secluded spot in a car, and assaulted him brutally,” Turan said.

According to investigators, a few hours after the assault, the suspects dumped injured Kumar outside a private hospital in Hailey Mandi and fled. Police said Kumar sustained at least nine fractures in his limbs, ribs and skull which resulted in his death in the course of treatment on Tuesday.

According to police, Cheli has three cases of murder, attempted murder and assault and criminal intimidation registered against him, while Chinu and Jogender have four such cases each. Kumar also had two criminal cases of assault and molestation against him.

A kidnapping and assault case was registered against the suspects on the complaint of Kumar’s brother at Farrukhnagar police station on Sunday, which was changed into a murder case after Kumar’s death.

Police said the suspects will be taken on remand for detailed interrogation after production before a court on Friday. Raids were underway to arrest the sixth suspect, they said.