A 35-year-old car driver died during treatment on Tuesday, two days after he was allegedly stabbed following a dispute over extra choley at a Sunday market in outer Delhi’s Nihal Vihar area, police said. The accused food vendor has been arrested and a murder charge has been added to the case.
The victim, identified as Sandeep, was allegedly attacked during a scuffle with choley-bhaturey seller Chintu Gupta near Jwalapuri Nala. Police said Gupta was arrested during the investigation and remanded to judicial custody. The case was initially registered at Paschim Vihar West police station under Section 109(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with attempt to murder.
Sandeep was first admitted to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital on the night of October 25. He was later shifted to Maharaja Agrasen Hospital in Punjabi Bagh, where he died during treatment on Tuesday. Following his death, police added Section 103(1) of the BNS, which deals with murder.
According to Sandeep’s medico-legal case report, he had three stab wounds on the left side of his abdomen, three lacerated wounds on his left forearm and another lacerated wound on his wrist. A senior police officer said Sandeep was declared unfit to give a statement, after which investigators began examining the circumstances of the incident.
Police said a preliminary inquiry found that a scuffle had taken place between Sandeep and the vendor near Jwalapuri Nala. Sandeep’s father, Bijender Singh, alleged that his son had gone to the Sunday market and asked the vendor for extra choley before an argument broke out. Singh further alleged that the dispute escalated after the vendor abused Sandeep and that he was stabbed repeatedly.
Singh said he reached the spot after learning about the incident and was helped by eyewitnesses in taking his son to hospital. He alleged that three to four people were involved in the attack, while police have so far arrested the vendor. Sandeep, a resident of Rav Vihar in Nihal Vihar, worked as a private car driver and is survived by his wife and two sons, aged four and 10.
Police said further investigation was underway and that officers were examining the alleged role of other people in the attack.
