Nursing old grudge, man murders vegetable vendor

The police arrested a man for allegedly murdering a 22-year-old vegetable vendor in Tikri village, Sadar area, on Friday night. The police said that a preliminary

The police arrested a man for allegedly murdering a 22-year-old vegetable vendor in Tikri village, Sadar area, on Friday night. The police said that a preliminary probe had revealed that the suspect nursed an old grudge against the victim and planned the murder to exact revenge.

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The police said the victim, Birender Kumar of Bihar, had been working as a vegetable vendor for the past couple of years. According to the police, the incident took place around 2am when Birender was asleep at his vegetable shop in Tikri village.

The police said the suspect, Mithu Kumar (21), went to the shop and stabbed Birender multiple times before strangling him. A passerby informed the police control room, following which a team from the Sadar police station arrested the suspect from Tikri village.

Subhash Boken, spokesperson, city police, said that the suspect and the victim were acquainted with each other.

“The suspect used to work at a shoe shop in Tikri village. Last year, the victim and suspect had allegedly fought after an argument over a petty matter. During the alleged fight, the victim had assaulted him and he held a grudge against him since,” Boken said.

The police said after murdering the victim, Kumar had hidden the murder weapon (a knife) and his bloodstained clothes near his house, which were recovered by the police on Saturday after his arrest.

A case was registered against Kumar under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code at Sadar police station on Saturday. The police said he would be produced before a duty magistrate on Sunday.