A minor scuffle over gulli danda (a local game) a week ago infuriated a youth to such an extent that he, along with 12 others, brutally thrashed and stabbed a 20-year-old to death in North Delhi’s Burari area on Tuesday afternoon. Police have arrested five youth and detained four juveniles in connection with the murder of Pankaj, a salesman, living in Kamal Vihar colony in Burari.
The other four accused persons who are still at large have been identified, said a senior police officer. The accused arrested have been identified as Rohit, Manish alias Munna, Anil Kumar, Amit and Rahul.
According to the police, Pankaj along with one of his friend had a minor scuffle with Rohit while they were playing gulli danda where Pankaj mistakenly hit Rohit. This led into a heated argument. Angry over this, Rohit planned to take revenge and decided to teach Pankaj a lesson.
On Tuesday at around 3 pm, Rohit gathered all his friends and went to the field where Pankaj was playing cricket with his friends. The accused started thrashing him with sticks and stabbed Pankaj on his back and stomach, police said. Pankaj was then taken to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead on admission. Pankaj’s father works as a manager in a bank.
“We asked the three eyewitnesses, all Pankaj’s friends, who were present at the playground when the murder took place. One of them revealed that he had told them about a fight with Rohit. On being interrogated, Pankaj’s girlfriend disclosed the name of Manish with whom Pankaj had a fight when he saw Manish ogling at his girlfriend while the couple was roaming in a nearby market place,” said Madhur Verma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North).
“All the accused are of the age group of 16-21 years. All the five accused who have been arrested belong to Mukundpur area while the four juveniles are residents of Kamal Vihar colony,” the official said.