A young man was murdered in Delhi for allegedly smoking on the road by two Nihang Sikhs who allegedly stabbed him in Delhi’s Tilak Nagar in the early hours of Wednesday, June 15. The deceased, identified as Sagar Singh, 29, worked as a delivery partner for the food delivery business Zomato.

Ghanshyam Bansal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West), said the incident was reported to the police control room at 12:30 a.m. Residents informed the local police. When the victim was been brought to the hospital when they arrived. Doctors at the hospital declared Sagar dead upon his arrival, he added.

“Sagar Singh, the victim, was stabbed in the chest. “According to the preliminary investigation, Singh had an argument with two people before being stabbed,” the DCP added.

DCP Bansal also stated that one of the suspects, Harshdeep Singh (22), a resident of neighbouring Chander Vihar, was detained and the kirpan used in the murder was retrieved from him, based on the CCTV video obtained from the crime scene.

The other accused has been identified, according to Bansal, and the police are on the hunt for him. According to police, an FIR has been filed against the suspects under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (murder).

“During interrogation, Harshdeep informed the police that he and a companion were walking near a restaurant on Krishna Puri’s street number 13 when they came across Sagar obstructing their route. “They asked Sagar to move aside, but he reprimanded them instead,” the DCP stated, adding that the accused’s statements were false.

Sagar went to a restaurant at around 12.30 a.m. to pick up a food order, and two people were standing nearby. When Sagar sought to smoke cigarettes on the spot, the accused stopped him. The group got into an argument shortly after, and the battle swiftly escalated, with one of the accused stabbing Sagar in the chest with a knife. The accused smashed Sagar’s skull with a stone when he tried to flee the scene, forcing him to collapse and bleed profusely. After some time had passed, another food delivery boy came across Sagar and took him to the hospital, where he was declared dead.

Meanwhile, Sagar’s brother-in-law, Inder Pal, who also works as a Zomato delivery worker, said Sagar used to work night shifts to supplement his income and avoid traffic during the day. Pal went on to say that he spoke to many eyewitnesses and individuals who gathered at the scene after Sagar was stabbed following the incident.

“On June 15, he received his first order about 12 am and the order had to be picked up from a restaurant close to his house on street number 13,” he told the media, based on the information he had and what he obtained from eyewitnesses. Sagar left for work after dinner with his wife Satwant Kaur alias Komal and their 8-year-old son.

“Two Nihang Sikhs, who were present near the restaurant, abused Sagar for smoking. But when Sagar told them that the was smoking in an open space, and refused to stop, the two Nihangs got angry. They took out their kirpans and stabbed him in the left side of the chest,” Pal alleged. It may be noted that kirpans are religious knives and swords that Sikhs carry with them.

According to the deceased’s family and Asif, the delivery agent who drove Sagar to the hospital, Sagar was bleeding for at least 20 minutes on the road and no one stepped forward to aid him. He died as a result of the huge blood loss.

Asif claimed that he was driving down the road when he noticed Sagar laying beside the pavement. “No one had touched his body until I arrived. It had been at least 15 minutes. He might have been saved if he had been taken to the hospital sooner,” Asif added.

Asif claimed he called his wife from Sagar’s phone to inform her of the occurrence. He further stated that the client whose order Sagar was going to deliver called up while attempting to contact the police helpline. “Because we couldn’t get through to the emergency line, I asked the customer to call the cops.” Asif recounted, that he dialled the police helpline and a squad was dispatched to the scene.

Satwant Kaur alias Komal, Sagar’s wife, and their 8-year-old kid survive him.

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