Dentist beaten to death with iron rods after scuffle

A 40-year-old dentist was beaten to death by a mob in front of his eight-year-old son in West Delhi’s Vikaspuri on Wednesday night. The victim, Dr Pankaj Narang, had gone out into his apartment’s balcony to play cricket with his son and nephew to celebrate India’s victory over Bangladesh. In the midst of celebrations, a cricket ball flew out of his first floor residence and hit two motorcyclists. This led to a minor altercation but the motorcyclists returned with over a dozen persons including a woman and broke into the doctor’s house and fatally assaulted him.

Police have arrested five persons and apprehended four juveniles. The accused have been identified as Naseer, Naseer’s mother Maesar, Aamir, Gopal and Amir. According to the cops, Naseer, one of the motorcyclists, belonged to the nearby slum cluster Indra Camp, from where he called around 10 to 13 people “to take revenge”. The crowd dragged Dr Narang out of his house and lynched him on the road in full public view. The mob carried iron rods, cricket bats and sticks, which was used to assault Dr Narang and also his brother-in-law who tried to save him from the murderous crowd.

Dr Narang and his wife, who is also a doctor, lived with their son in their apartment at Dhauli Piao area of Vikaspuri. Narang had invited his sister, brother-in-law and their son for Holi celebrations next day. Residents claimed that a PCR call was made at 12:50 am. However, by the time police reached the spot, the accused had fled. A neighbour said that it was Dr Narang’s family who rushed him to Mata Chanan Devi hospital where he succumbed to injuries. Doctors said Narang received a deep wound on his Cranium. 

An employee of the English coaching classes running right next to Dr Narang’s house said: “Dr Narang was playing with his child. It all started at around 12:15 am when the cricket ball hit two men on the motorcycle. When the child went out to take the ball with his father, an argument broke out between Dr Narang and the bike-borne men. Within 10 minutes, the argument escalated into a scuffle when the two men called in 10 to 13 men and brutally thrashed him.”

“We registered a case of murder, attempt to murder, house trespass and rioting against several persons, and formed a team to nab the accused at the earliest. We also obtained CCTV footage from the nearby premises,” said Pushpendra Kumar, DCP (West). Eight persons were apprehended on Thursday, of whom four including the bike-borne minor who was with Naseer, turned out to be juvenile.

On Friday, police arrested Naseer’s mother, who allegedly instigated the violence. The cop added that two more persons have been identified but they are still on the run.