3 held for hacking 22-year-old to death with axe, video goes viral

The police identified the deceased as Momeen Khan, a tea vendor at the vegetable market, and said the three arrested suspects were his friends, Gaurav Singh, 22, Ankit Kiumar, 21 and Raju Kumar, 25

The Ghaziabad police on Wednesday arrested three men on charges of their 22-year-old friend with a axe on the lintervening night of April 2 and 3 in Sahibabad vegetable market, under the jurisdiction of Link Road police station.

The three suspects in police custody on Wednesday. (HT Photo)

Senior police officers said a passerby who witnessed the brutal act made a video of the entire incident and later posted it on social media after which it was widely shared by many.

The police identified the deceased as Momeen Khan, a tea vendor at the vegetable market, and said the three arrested suspects were his friends, Gaurav Singh, 22, Ankit Kiumar, 21 and Raju Kumar, 25.

Police said all four resided in nearby Jhandapur village.

Police said Singh plays DJ music at weddings and functions and on the night of the murder, he returned home after a programme. Thereafter, the four friends decided to have drinks. “During the drinking session, there was some altercation between Khan and Singh, and, it soon escalated into a major fight. Singh had a metalled axe with him and he used that to hack Khan to death before fleeing with the other two suspects,” said Rajneesh Upadhyaya, assistant commissioner of police (Sahibabad)..

The ACP said Singh had an altercation with Khan before they went drinking together and was still upset by this. Later, he went to DJ a function and returned late night after which he equipped himself with an axe and then took along Khan and the others for drinks, he said.

Upon questioning, the suspects told police that Singh fled the spot and also cleaned up the axe in his rented room while Ankit and Raju joined Khan’s family in their search for Singh, in an attempt to divert attention away from them.

The police said that Ankit and Raju work at nearby Sahibabad vegetable market.

“A video of the incident, captured by a passerby, showed the suspect landing multiple blows with an axe on the other man till that man collapsed. After the arrests, we also seized the murder weapon. Gaurav is the prime suspect while the other two aided him and did not prevent the attack. Thier bloodstained clothes were also recovered,” Upadhyaya said.

Police said the three men have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder) and section 34 (common intention).

The ACP denied that there was any communal angle to the incident.