Double murder? Noida duo on bike chased, rammed against grille by SUV after altercation

Family of the victims alleged that the attackers, travelling in an SUV, had an altercation with the duo, following which they chased them and ran them into an iron grille, killing them

Noida

Police, meanwhile, said they are scanning CCTV footage to determine the exact cause of the incident. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Two men in their 20s died late Tuesday night in a suspected fallout of an altercation with another group at a pushcart operating in Sector 30. While the police have registered a case of rash driving and causing death by negligence, friends and family of the victims alleged that the attackers, travelling in an SUV, chased them and rammed them into an iron grille, killing them.

The mutilated bodies of the two victims, Basant Khasu, 22, a second-year hotel management student, and Rohan Mandal, 26, who worked with the fire department, were found stuck to the entry grille of Army Public School in Sector 37. Their motorbike was also stuck to the grille, entwined between the bodies.

The two of them resided with their families in Noida’s Sector 31, police said. An autopsy was conducted, but results are awaited, police said.

The family alleged that 15 minutes before the reported accident, Khasu had called his younger brother, Dheeraj, and friend, Ravi Kumar, for help.

Ravi Kumar said, “Around 11.30pm, I was sitting outside Basant’s home at a bonfire along with his younger brother Dheeraj when I received a call from Basant informing me that he and Rohan had got into a fight with some men in an SUV at a food stall outside a private school in Sector 30. We thought he was joking, so I disconnected the call. Moments later, our neighbourhood friend Pushpendra received a call from Rohan, telling him that their bike was being chased by an SUV and they were moving towards Army Public School.

“After alerting us, Pushpendra immediately left for the spot. He found the SUV reversing and their mutilated bodies stuck on an iron grille outside the school gate,” he said. “As Pushpendra informed us around 11.54pm about the incident, we immediately rushed to the spot. The police and locals were already there, and both were rushed to a nearby private hospital, where doctors declared them dead.”

Guards deployed by the school were inside the premises and came out upon hearing sounds and when people started gathering, according to Mandal’s neighbour Rihan Singh. “We were informed by first responders that the SUV hit them twice before leaving the spot.”

Dheeraj said, “Police are saying that my brother met with an accident while speeding on his bike. How can a 110cc bike run at such a speed that they were flung onto an iron grille? There were two speed breakers as well at the accident spot. We saw CCTV footage (also accessed by HT) where an SUV was seen chasing their bike at a high speed. My brother was brutally killed following a dispute.”

He said that his brother had left home around 10.30pm to attend a friend’s birthday party in Sector 37. After the party, they stopped at a paratha handcart, where the dispute took place.

Dheeraj said that the police pressured them to conduct the last rites immediately. “Police were pressurising us to conduct the last rites. We cannot proceed until the suspects are nabbed. My father, who works as a chef in South Africa, is also on his way to Noida,” said Dheeraj, adding, “We demand a fair investigation.”

Rohan’s family conducted the last rites upon receiving his body, while Basant’s body continues to remain at the Sector 94 post-mortem facility.

Police, meanwhile, said they are scanning CCTV footage to determine the exact cause of the incident.

“As of now, we have registered a case of rash driving and causing death by negligence against the unidentified SUV driver at Sector 39 police station. Our first priority is to identify the SUV’s registration number to nab the suspects. The case is being investigated from all angles, taking the family’s allegations into consideration,” said Shavya Goyal, additional deputy commissioner of police, Noida.