Mob burns homes of murder suspects

Unwilling to wait for the police to catch the alleged killers of a Delhi college student, a mob attacked, vandalised and even set on fire three of the six suspects' houses in Sonia Vihar on Tuesday. HT reports.

Unwilling to wait for the police to catch the alleged killers of a Delhi college student, a mob attacked, vandalised and even set on fire three of the six suspects' houses in Sonia Vihar on Tuesday.

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The attack was carried out in the presence of policemen who remained spectators.

The vigilante mob also destroyed two cars and set two motorcycles on fire beside burning and looting property worth lakhs, a police officer later said.

The provocation was the alleged murder of Kamal Rawat, a B Com final year student of Khalsa College.

Rawat was allegedly abducted near Nankasar Gurudwara in Sonia Vihar and stabbed to death on Monday.

The rampaging mob, apparently out to avenge Rawat's death, had to be controlled with teargas shells and a lathi-charge.

The mob comprised residents of the area who wanted to drive the families of the accused out of the locality, police said.
More than 25 people were hurt and a few police officers suffered minor injuries.

Fire tenders faced a tough time reaching the homes of the accused, including Bachchan Singh's, whose house was completely burned down.

The police alleged Kamal's friends and family members had incited the mob. But the family denied the charge.

The accused had allegedly taken Rs 75,000 from Kamal promising to sell him a modified motorcycle, which was never delivered. After many fights and a police complaint, the accused returned the money but vowed to take revenge.

On Monday, Kamal was murdered. On Tuesday evening, two accused were arrested, but by then the mob had already taken law in its own hands.