Elderly man killed in fight over water distribution at Wazirpur
NEWDELHI: A 60-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death by his neighbours following a quarrel over distribution of water in north Delhi’s Wazirpur industrial area on Saturday afternoon.
Police said the elderly man was trying to mediate in an altercation between his son and neighbours when he was attacked with plastic water pipes and iron buckets, before being beaten up with fists. Two other men were injured in the clash.
Police later said that three men were arrested, and a minor boy was apprehended in connection with the murder. Those arrested were identified as Sunil alias Gutru, 26, who works for a transport agency, Akash,23, a driver, and Arvind, 24, a daily wage earner. Police said the apprehended juvenile and the arrested men are neighbours of the dead man, identified as Lal Bahadur..
Aslam Khan, deputy commissioner of police (northwest), said the crime took place around 3.30pm in the victim’s neighbourhood.
“Bahadur’s son Rohit and his neighbour Sunny entered into an argument over the distribution of water from a water tanker. When Bahadur tried to pacify the quarrel, his neighbours thrashed him because of which he collapsed. Bahadur was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead,” said DCP Khan.
Rohit told police that the water tanker had come to their locality after a gap of two days. Bahadur went to fetch water from the tanker. While he was connecting a water pipe , Sunny arrived and removed the pipe, saying he wanted to fetch water first.
“As Sunny tried to connect his water pipe with the tanker, Rohit objected and a scuffle broke out between them,” said a police officer, quoting Rohit’s statement.
Hearing the commotion, Bahadur came out and tried to control the situation. But Sunny then called his friends and family members and they allegedly thrashed Rohit and his father. At least 50 people gathered at the spot but nobody tried to intervene or stop the attackers from assaulting the father and son.
The victim’s family has alleged that the attackers included some women as well but the police did not arrest them. A posse of policemen were deployed in the area later to ensure that no further clashes take place in the area.