FARIDABAD: A 21-year-old Delhi resident was stabbed to death and his friend was seriously injured after a scuffle with another group of three youngsters in Panchsheel Colony of the city in the early hours of Saturday.
The altercation broke out between the two groups after one of the accused told the 21-year-old "beta idhar aa (son, come here)".
Police said on Sunday that the accused were known to the two and they were drunk at the time of the incident.
Alok Chaudhary, who lived in Delhi's Jaitpur with his family, died during treatment at AIIMS after suffering multiple stab wounds to his stomach and chest, his father Naveen Kumar Chaudhary told police. Alok's friend Shivam is being treated at the hospital.
An FIR was registered against Raja, Yamin and Buga aka Guga - all between 20 and 25 years, and residents of Delhi - under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) at Palla police station on Saturday.
All of them are on the run.
According to the complaint, Alok's father was told about the stabbing by another friend - Rahul - around 1am on Saturday.
"I received the information that my younger son Alok was stabbed and his friend Shivam was severely injured in the attack. Rahul Negi told me the names of all the three who attacked them. We found Alok in a severely wounded state at a park in Panchsheel Colony three hours later," Naveen said.
Faridabad police spokesperson Sube Singh said the accused were roaming around in the colony after drinking, when Alok and Shivam were walking by.
"One of the accused, Yamin said 'Beta, idhar aa', which angered Alok. He went to the accused and started asking why he was called 'beta'. The verbal argument escalated, Yamin took a knife out of his pocket and stabbed Alok three to four times in his chest and stomach. Others attacked with a stick. Shivam suffered injuries as he tried to save Alok from the attackers," he said.
The three fled from the site afterwards.
Alok and Shivam were first rushed to a private hospital, and later referred to AIIMS, Delhi, the spokesperson said.
DCP (crime) Mukesh Malhotra said the accused and Alok have a criminal background.
"All of them knew each other and lived close by. They would interact frequently. Yamin was accused of raping a minor girl. Raja faces charges for an altercation," he said.
A team of the crime branch is carrying out raids to trace the accused. Cops have announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for any information on them. On Sunday, ACP (crime) Aman Yadav clarified that social media claims on Alok and Shivam trying to rescue a woman were misleading and provocative.
"The cyber crime team is identifying individuals who falsely labelled the deceased as a member of Bajrang Dal and posted misleading content. A legal action will be taken against these people to ensure that the public is not misled," the ACP said.