A 29-year-old Manipuri BPO employee was beaten to death here early Monday by three youths who were promptly arrested. The brutal attack sparked outrage in the northeastern community.
Shaloni, 29, was assaulted around 2.30 a.m. following a spat with the attackers while he was going to a friend's house in Kotla Mubarakpur area in south Delhi to spend the night.
According to police, the deceased and two of his friends were in an autorickshaw near the Big Apple shop when a white Hyandai Verna car honked furiously to demand the right to overtake.
Apparently, the autorickshaw didn't give way. Instead, Shaloni, who lived in Munrika in south Delhi, and his friends abused the car occupants, a police officer told IANS.
Enraged, the car's occupants then intercepted the autorickshaw.
"While Shaloni's friends managed to flee, the assailants beat him up and escaped," the official added.
One of Shaloni's friends called up the Police Control Room. Joint Commissioner of Police Robin Hibu said the unconscious Shaloni was rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre where he was declared dead.
Within hours, police arrested Sanjay Basoya, 24, Shakti Basoya, 21, and Raju, 25, on charges of attacking Shaloni. They are all residents of Garhi in south Delhi.
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said: "We are very much disturbed by such incidents against the people from the northeast.
"We are going through a very comprehensive inquiry on the whole matter so that it can be dealt very effectively," said Rijiju, an MP from Arunachal Pradesh.
Hibu added: "The case is being probed from all angles as there seems to be no sudden provocation."
Police are analysing the call details of the victim's mobile phone. The seized the footage of a CCTV camera installed outside a shop at the spot.
It was the second fatal attack on a young man from the northeast in Delhi in six months.
The victim, Nido Tania, 19, was from Arunachal Pradesh. He died after being beaten with iron rods and sticks by men after an altercation with a shopkeeper in a south Delhi market, not far from Kotla Mubarakpur.
Monday's attack shocked the northeast community in Delhi.
"It is very unfortunate that such incidents against people from the northeast are on the rise," M.P. Bezbaruah, chairperson of the Bezbaruah Committee, formed by the government after Tania's attack, told IANS.
The committee was tasked to suggest remedial measures to address concerns of the northeastern people in metro cities.
"There is an urgent need for intervention by the police and the government," Bezbaruah said.
J.T. Tagam, a leader from the Northeastern Student's Union, said: "There are many areas in the city where police patrolling is lacking.
"Even in the area where this incident took, police patrolling is not a regular feature."
