Man kills ‘old friend’ for not sharing water bottle
NEW DELHI: An 18-year-old man was arrested from northwest Delhi on Thursday after he allegedly stabbed his 21-yearold “friend” to death following an altercation over sharing a bottle of water, the police said.
The victim, identified only by his first name Sagar, was stabbed at least half a dozen times on Wednesday night in his abdomen, chest and neck in front of two of his friends, the police said.
The police said the attacker, identified as Gaurav, a resident of Wazirpur JJ Colony, was Sagar’s “old friend” and they used to be neighbours in Wazirpur JJ Colony. Around 10 months ago, Sagar had shifted to Jahangirpuri.
Deputy commissioner of police (northwest) Aslam Khan said around 11.30pm, an argument broke out between the two when Gaurav asked Sagar for his water bottle.
“Sagar refused and asked Gaurav to buy a new bottle of water. Though Gaurav left after the altercation, he returned with a knife after 10 minutes and stabbed Sagar five to six times,” said Khan.
Gaurav fled the crime scene but was arrested on Thursday afternoon. A case of murder was registered against him at the Bharat Nagar police station, the police said.
The police said that at the time of the alleged crime, Sagar was accompanied by two of his friends — Pooja and Kunal.
Pooja told the police she was at her relative’s house in northwest Delhi’s Shakurpur area when Sagar asked her to meet him in Wazirpur around 11pm.
“Sagar told me that he had an argument with Gaurav. Suddenly, Gaurav arrived with a knife and stabbed Sagar. Kunal was also there with us at the time,” Pooja said, according to the police.
Sagar was rushed to a nearby hospital but doctors declared him brought dead.
In his statement to the police, Kunal said many locals saw the crime but nobody came forward to save Sagar’s life, even though Pooja and he screamed for help and requested the locals to intervene.
Police officials said locals told them that Gaurav allegedly had a “criminal background” and had recently been released from jail.
“We are verifying the antecedents of Gaurav. He is being interrogated,” said a police officer associated with the probe.