Fruit vendor killed for refusing to give matchbox

Lynching a 52-year-old fruit vendor to death over a trivial scuffle landed four youths behind bars. The four — Vinay(19), Manoj(26), Sandeep Kumar(19) and Akash(20) — and the other who is absconding had beaten Vishnu Dev, a watermelon seller from Bihar to death after he refused to give them matchbox to light a cigarette, said police.

Lynching a 52-year-old fruit vendor to death over a trivial scuffle landed four youths behind bars. The four — Vinay(19), Manoj(26), Sandeep Kumar(19) and Akash(20) — and the other who is absconding had beaten Vishnu Dev, a watermelon seller from Bihar to death after he refused to give them matchbox to light a cigarette, said police.

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The incident took place on Monday night at DDA market in Dabri. They were in inebriated state, said police. The accused were arrested from a dilapidated house in Dabri on Tuesday when they were planning to flee to Haryana, said Anil Kumar Ojha, DCP (south west).

Ojha said that another suspect who is absconding is yet to be identified. The four reportedly confessed that they were consuming liquor in front of DDA market and required a match box to light a cigarette. They asked a passer-by, Dev, for a match box, but were refused.

"The refusal offended them. They stroke him with a brick lying on the road in a fit of rage till he fell on the ground and bled profusely," said Ojha.

On seeing the victim's wife and son, who were searching for Dev, they fled from the spot. Dev was rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.