Man kills another after argument over spitting

A 29-year-old man allegedly stabbed a man from his neighbourhood to death using a glass bottle in New Delhi’s Mandir Marg on Wednesday night. The deadly attack was

A 29-year-old man allegedly stabbed a man from his neighbourhood to death using a glass bottle in New Delhi’s Mandir Marg on Wednesday night. The deadly attack was a fallout of an incident on Monday when the victim had objected to the suspect spitting at a public place, police said.

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The murder suspect, identified as Paveen Kumar, has been arrested. Police said the incident had nothing to do with the fear of spreading the coronavirus.

According to the police, the quarrel was reported to them at around 8.30pm Wednesday from Shaheed Bhagat Singh complex. There, the police team found Kumar and the victim 26-year-old Ankit Singh injured and took them to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

A senior officer aware of the case said that Singh died during treatment, while Kumar was declared out of danger. Kumar is a network engineer while Singh was a driver with the Karnataka Sangeet Sabha.

“From a preliminary enquiry we go to know that both Singh and Kumar were from the neighbourhood and knew each other. We were told that on Monday, both were sitting outside their houses when Singh saw Kumar spitting. On this, Singh objected but Kumar denied having spat. This sparked a quarrel between them and both threatened each other of dire consequences. However, local residents intervened and defused the matter,” the officer said.

“On Wednesday, they started an argument again. It soon turned violent and Singh attacked Kumar with a glass bottle. On this, Kumar also took a bottle and smashed it on Singh. He even stabbed him. Both men suffered injuries. Singh had suffered serious injuries to his left armpit and chest, and died of excessive bleeding. Kumar also sustained a few visible injuries, but is out of danger,” the officer said.

Deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi) Eish Singhal said a case of murder has been registered against Praveen Kumar and that a probe was on. “Neither had previous criminal involvement,” Singhal said. The DCP also said the incident had nothing to do with fear of spreading Covid-19. “Enquiry so far has revealed that Singh had felt insulted by Kumar’s act and therefore they had the fight.”