Rakesh Kumar, the victim (Photo Source: Babushahi Network)
Youth killed in Kharar over old rivalry between two groups
Harshabab Sidhu
Mohali, August 6, 2021:
In a clash between two groups, a youth was murdered while one was injured in Kharar here on Thursday night.
The deceased has been identified as Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Kharar. Rakesh was a taxi driver.
City Kharar police has booked eight people including a woman under murder charge in this connection. The suspects have been identified as Deepanshu Singla alias Cheeku, Manak Aggarwal, Rajesh Kumar, Rahul, Gopal Krishan, Madhav Gupta, Suman Sharma and Kiran Bala, all residents of Kharar. The police arrested three suspects – Madhav, Gopal and Suman and the rest are at large.
As per the police, Rakesh was killed over an old rivalry of two groups related to Kanwar Yatra.
The injured person in this incident, Jatinder Kumar, informed the police that he along with Rakesh Kumar and Umesh Kumar used to organize Kanwar Yatra to Haridwar every year in their area. Another group of Cheeku, Manak, Rajesh, Rahul and Gopal Krishan also used to organize the same yatra every year. He said their anty-party was holding a grudge against them for the last couple of months.
According to the FIR, on Thursday night at around 10.30 pm, Rakesh and Jatinder along with their friends were discussing their plans near Arya College in Kharar. In the meantime, Cheeku, Manak and Rajesh came there on a bike and hurled abuses at them. After that they left the place. Reacting to this, Rakesh made a call to Cheeku and objected to why they abused them. After a few minutes, the trio suspects again came there with knives and iron rods in their hands. Some heated arguments took place between both the groups following which Cheeku attacked Rakesh with a sharp knife. After that, Manak attacked him with the rod on his head. When Jatinder tried to intervene, the suspects also attacked him with rods on his right leg. The other suspects – Rahul, Gopal, Madhav and Suman also came there with sluggers and sticks in their hands. Cheeku’s mother Kiran Bala was also present there and was instigating them to kill Rakesh. The suspects kept beating Rakesh and Jatinder mercilessly for a few minutes. When they raised the alarm, a few people gathered there following which all the suspects sped away on their bikes. Rakesh and Jatinder were rushed to the Civil Hospital of Kharar, from where Rakesh was shifted to the GMCH-32. He succumbed to his head and stomach injuries there. Jatinder is still undergoing his treatment in the hospital as his right leg got fractured.
Inspector Ashok Kumar, SHO of City Kharar police station said that the suspects are drug addicts. Three of them have been arrested and the search is on to nab the absconding suspects, he said.
It also came to light that the victim, Rakesh, was planning to go to Australia to settle there.
A case under Sections 302, 307, 323, 148, 149 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered against eight suspects.