Uttam Nagar Holi Killing: 7 Including Minor Arrested After Delhi Man Beaten To Death By Neighbours, Kin Demands CBI Probe
A 26-year-old man, Tarun, died following a violent Holi clash between two long-standing feuding families in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar, leading to the arrest of seven people, including a minor, and heightened community tensions.
It was a fight between the family and their neighbours, who belonged to a minority community over a water balloon. Photo : TN Innovations
Days after a 26-year-olddied after being brutally beaten up due to a dispute that had erupted between his family and neighbours, who belong to a minority community, during Holi celebrations in southwest Delhi’s Uttam Nagar, seven people, including a minor, were apprehended, police said on Saturday. Tarun was beaten up with rods near the corner of his lane after unknowingly walking into a dispute that had erupted earlier between his family and neighbours. He died during treatment the next day. Provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act were also added to the FIR on Saturday, police said.
The incident, which took place on March 4, sparked tensions in the area with an angry mob damaging several vehicles and setting them on fire. Protests over the past two days prompted heavy deployment of police and paramilitary personnel in the area. However, father of the victim demanded a CBI probe on Saturday, alleging that the family was not informed about the progress of the investigation.
“Police told us that five or six people have been arrested. We asked them to show us who had been caught, but they did not do so. I demand a CBI inquiry,” he was quoted as saying to media.
A Water Balloon Landed Wrong
On Wednesday, around 11.09 pm, a call was made to the Uttam Nagar Police Station, reporting a quarrel between neighbours belonging to different communities in the area’s JJ colony. The two families had known each other for the past five decades and got into rows over parking and garbage disposal, among other things, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Kushal Pal Singh said.
“Both families are originally from Rajasthan. Earlier, they used to live in the Rajendra Nagar slum and shifted here after 2004,” Singh said.
An initial inquiry revealed that the dispute began after Tarun’s 11-year-old cousin accidentally threw a water balloon from the terrace of their house towards her relative. But it hit the ground and the water splashed on the clothes of their neighbour. The woman, as per the Tarun’s family, hurled abuses and left before returning with her relatives. Soon, both parties came to blows and members of both families sustained injuries. After the scuffle, all returned home.
However, the accused’s family spotted Tarun when he was returning home and allegedly beat him up, leaving him injured on the road. Tarun’s family has alleged the involvement of over a dozen people in the assault.
Locality Remains Tense
The police said eight people sustained injuries in the clash — three from one side and five from the other – and most were discharged from the hospital the same day. Tarun, however, was admitted with serious injuries. An FIR was initially registered under sections 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and police arrested four people and apprehended one minor.
“On March 5, Tarun succumbed during treatment, following which the section related to murder was added to the case,” the officer said. With the arrest of two more accused, the total number of people held in this connection has risen to seven, including six adults and a minor, they said.
Delhi Uttam Nagar Murder Case: होली का गुब्बारा लगते ही कमरु ने ली हिंदू लड़के की जान?
The accused have been identified as Umardeen, 49, and Jummadeen and Kamruddin, both aged 36. Besides the juvenile, the other three were Mustaque, Muzzafar, and Tahir, aged 46, 25, and 18. “Three of them, Umardeen, Kamruddin and Jummadeen, are brothers, while the others are relatives who live close to each other in Uttam Nagar,” an officer said as quoted by TOI, adding that they work as wall painters. Memraj, the father of the victim, also works as a white wash painter.
