A 25-year-old hotel management graduate was chased and stabbed to death by a group of at least four men in south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar on Thursday night.
The man was attacked following an altercation that started over him urinating at a wall of Quila Begumpur, slapping one of the alleged attackers and abusing his mother who had objected to his urination in the first place, police said after arresting the four suspects.
The blood stained knife used in the murder was recovered from the arrested men apart from the clothes they were wearing at the time of the crime, the police said.
After the murder of 25-year-old Mayank Panwar, a resident of Shahpur Jat in south Delhi, his family members suspected that he may have been killed for resisting a snatching attempt by the alleged assailants.
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His cousin said on Friday that according to information the locals and police shared with the family, the men purportedly tried to snatch something from Mayank and when he resisted, a scuffle took place between the two.
“We were told that those people are local criminals and they snatch from people regularly. They pelted stones at Mayank and his friend, and also chased Mayank to kill him. We don’t know the rest,” the cousin added.
The police, however, did not confirm on Friday whether Mayank was murdered over a snatching attempt.
On Saturday, they clarified that the murder took place over the issue of urination, slapping one of the alleged accused, identified by his first name Manish (19) and abusing his mother. The other arrested suspects were identified as Rahul alias Bihari (19), Ashish Tanwar (20) and Suraj (19).
“It was also learnt during the probe that Mayank and Manish were having personal enmity and the former had assaulted him in the past as well,” said a police officer, who did not want to be identified.
Deputy commissioner of police (south) Benita Mary Jaiker said on August 11, police received a call regarding the stabbing of a person near Gate No-3 Begumpur in Malviya Nagar. A police officer reached the crime scene and found that the injured man was rushed to a hospital by his relatives. Later, the police received information from AIIMS Trauma Centre regarding the death of 25-year-old Mayank Panwar due to stab injury that he suffered in a quarrel at Gate No 3 of Begumpur. The friend of the Mayank named Vikas Panwar, who was with him during the quarrel, was found at the hospital.
On enquiry, the DCP said, Vikas told the police that around midnight on Thursday, he was drinking with Mayank at Quila Begumpur. Suddenly, four to five persons came and had arguments with Mayank. Thereafter, all of them left but returned later and started pelting stones at them.
“Both fled the place and the alleged attackers started chasing them. Vikas moved towards the market area while Mayank ran towards Gate No-3 Begumpur, where they overpowered him and stabbed him multiple times,” said the DCP.
Footage from CCTV cameras in the area showed Mayank attempting to flee his attackers, even as they pinned him down and stabbed him multiple times while passersby watched in horror. One of the video footage was circulated on social media on Friday, prompting the police to form teams and nab the suspects at the earliest. They scanned the video footage and used it to identify the suspects through local intelligence.
“We learnt that three suspects were hiding at the house of their friends. The prime accused Manish fled to the house of his uncle in Bawana. All the suspects were caught from Begumpur and Bawana,” the DCP said.
Police said that during the investigation, it was learnt that the four men were also drinking in the premises of the Quila where mother of Manish also arrived to take him home. During the same time, she reportedly noticed Mayank urinating on a wall and objected.
“Mayank abused her on that issue. Manish abused him and was slapped by Mayank. Manish called his friends for help and they all pelted stones on Mayank and his friend Vikas. Mayank fled towards the park. Manish and his friends chased and overpowered Mayank. Manish stabbed Mayank multiple times in his stomach and then fled with his friends. Manish and his friends killed Mayank in a sudden quarrel,” added DCP Jaiker.
