A man, identified as Mohammad Qari Owais, was brutally beaten to death up after a fight spiralled out of control outside the exit gate of Old Delhi Railway Station on the night of 26 August.
He was brought dead to Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital, Delhi police confirmed to The Quint.
The police has said that the scuffle was triggered by an argument over a pair of headphones between the deceased and two shopkeepers and that there is no communal angle.
The police has identified the two shopkeepers as Lallan and Ayub alias Sarfraj. “They have been detained and are in the police station right now. The arrests will follow,” Harendra Singh, Adl DCP I, North told The Quint.
Lal Dubey, who works outside Old Delhi Railway Station, told The Quint, “The victim had come to the shop to buy headphones or something. He didn't like the product and left but the shopkeeper abused him. Then the victim and shopkeeper got into a fight, other shopkeepers jumped in and thrashed the boy.”
Talking about the fight that preceded his death, Singh said, “Mamooli si baat thi, haatha paayi hui thi. Lekin fir ladka baith gaya, bola uski tabiyat kharab hai. (The fight was over a small issue, but yes they did beat him up. After a while, the boy sat down as he was not feeling well.)
Talking about the charges filed in the case, Singh said, “Prima facie the information we have got is that no injury was found which could lead to his death. Therefore, rather than registering a murder case, we are registering a case under Section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) under the Indian Penal Code at the Kotwali police station.”
(This is a developing story and will be updated with more details when available)
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