Man, 27, held for bludgeoning 70-year-old to death in Gurugram

Incident near wine shop escalated quickly; victim collapsed before being attacked again with a stone, say investigators.

A 27-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly bludgeoning a 70-year-old man to death following an argument over drinking alcohol in public in Sector 21, police said.

Accused, a UP native living locally, allegedly kept assaulting victim for minutes; case registered at Udyog Vihar police station. (File photo)

The accused, Monu Rajput, a native of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh who lives in Dundahera and works as a painter, was arrested within hours of the incident on Monday. He was produced before a court on Tuesday and taken on one-day police remand for interrogation, police said.

The deceased, identified as Jagdish (single name), was a resident of Dundahera in Udyog Vihar.

According to police, the incident took place around 4.15pm on Monday near a wine shop, where Rajput was consuming alcohol. Jagdish objected and asked him to move elsewhere, triggering an argument.

Police said Rajput, who was allegedly already intoxicated, refused to leave, leading to a scuffle that soon escalated into a violent assault.

Vinod Kumar, station house officer of Udyog Vihar police station, said Jagdish fell to the ground during the assault. “He kept assaulting the senior citizen for several minutes, leaving him unable to move. Later, he lifted a heavy rock lying nearby and dropped it on Jagdish,” Kumar said. “He again picked up the rock and dropped it on Jagdish.”

Locals raised an alarm and alerted the police control room. Jagdish was taken to a private hospital in Palam Vihar, where he died during treatment late on Monday night.

Police said a preliminary investigation has indicated a prior enmity between the two, the details of which will be ascertained during Rajput’s interrogation.

Based on a complaint by Jagdish’s family, a case under Section 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered against Rajput at Udyog Vihar police station on Monday night.