New Delhi, May 29: A 33-year-old e-rickshaw driver, Ravinder, was brutally beaten to death with brass knuckles and bricks wrapped in towels, allegedly by a group of Delhi University students, on Saturday evening. The provocation? He had stopped two of the students from urinating in the open at north-west Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar.
Police said the incident took place near Gate No. 4 of GTB Nagar metro station. Earlier in the day, at about 1.30pm, Ravinder had parked his vehicle near the spot and was waiting for a couple of his friends for lunch, when he noticed two young men urinating against the wall of a public toilet.
"I saw him walking towards the duo, who were both holding beer cans. Ravinder asked them not to urinate there and dirty the place as all of us sat there to have lunch every day. When they started arguing, he pulled out a few coins from his pocket and asked them to take the money and pay for using the toilet. Angered by his gesture, they pulled his collar and threatened him with dire consequences," said Manoj, an eyewitness.
"Aaj raat tak teri haalat kharab kar denge (we will make you pay for this by tonight)," the two told Ravinder, according to Manoj.
Another eyewitness, a rickshaw-puller named Tota Ram, said two men came enquiring for "the man in a green shirt" at about 3.30pm. "None of us knew whom they were talking about as we had not met Ravinder since the morning. It's only later when he came to the stand after dropping passengers that we noticed him wearing a green shirt," said Tota Ram.
"The men loitered around our stand for some time and left just minutes before Ravinder arrived. Coincidentally, I was at the stand in the evening too when the two men again arrived there, this time with 20-25 odd men accompanying them," he added.
Police said that as per eyewitness accounts, the men noticed Ravinder standing with a few others at the stand at 8pm and walked up to him. "They dragged him near a pole and started hitting him with brass knuckles and bricks wrapped in towels. Some people who tried to stop the attackers were thrashed as well," said Tota Ram.
Manoj tried to save Ravinder and was attacked too. He managed to free himself and rushed to the victim's house just across the road, crying for help. However, before any help could arrive, the attackers fled, leaving Ravinder lying on the road while shocked bystanders looked on.
Virender, the victim's elder brother said, "I put him in the e-rickshaw and took him home. He complained of pain in his back. As he tried to walk, he instantly fell. I carried him into the house, but within five minutes, the pain in his back intensified. We rushed him to Bara Hindu Rao hospital, but the doctors declared him brought dead." A senior police officer said Ravinder had suffered severe internal injuries.
"A case has been registered and teams have been formed to identify and nab the accused," said Milind Dumbere, deputy commissioner of police (north west). No breakthrough had been made in the case till Sunday night.
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