One held for killing vendor over ₹20 snack

GURUGRAM: The police on Wednesday arrested a 42-yearold man, suspected to be “mentally unstable”, for allegedly killing a puffed rice vendor in Sector 50 on Monday evening.

Rajesh Ram (45), a native of Musapur village in Bihar’s Katihar, was returning to his rented accommodation in Sector 63 with his wife on a bicycle after his day-long sales around 6pm on Monday when the suspect, walking in the locality without any clothes, stopped him and asked him to give ‘jhal-muri’.

Police said Ram asked his wife Sumitra Devi to go ahead. “The suspect had asked Ram to give ‘jhal-muri’ worth ₹20 for free. When Ram turned him down, a minor altercation broke out between the two, following which the suspect picked up a large piece of pointed stone from the roadside and hurled it at Ram. The stone hit Ram on the head, puncturing his skull and leading to his death on the spot,” said ACP Preet Pal Sangwan, adding that the suspect later fled the spot.

On seeing Ram collapse to the ground, Sumitra rushed to her husband and took him to a hospital in Sector 47, where doctors declared him dead. The body was handed over to the family after performing an autopsy on Tuesday. A case was registered against the unidentified suspect under Indian Penal Code Section 302 (murder) at the Sector 50 police station on Monday night.

Ram shifted to Gurugram about five years to earn a livelihood, and is survived by his wife, three daughters and two sons, said police.

Sangwan, meanwhile, said, “We believe the suspect is a completely sane person. A further investigation is underway.”