A 32-year-old e-rickshaw driver was beaten to death allegedly by a dozen men after he objected to a few of them urinating outside the GTB Nagar Metro Station in the nation’s capital.
Police have launched a hunt for the accused.
Two men had bought liquor from a shop near the metro station and consumed it near Gate No. 4 on Saturday evening. They also urinated outside the station, to which the e-rickshaw driver, identified as Ravinder, objected, police said.
The duo told Ravinder that they would get back at him later, and left the place in another e-rickshaw. They got off near Kirori Mal College.
Around 8 pm, the duo, along with 10 others, returned to the metro station and attacked Ravinder.
Another e-rickshaw driver, who tried to intervene, was also assaulted.
Ravinder was rushed to a hospital where he died.
Police sources said that images of the two men have been captured in CCTV cameras installed at the liquor shop and on the North Campus of Delhi University, where Kirori Mal College is located.
It is suspected that the accused had come to Delhi to appear in a competitive examination. It has been learnt that they belong to Haryana and have been staying in Burari.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the killing and directed the authorities to punish the culprits.
Modi, who is on a four-nation tour, also sanctioned Rs.1 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund as ex gratia to the next of the kin of the 32-year-old, an official spokesman said.
"The prime minister condemned the incident and directed the authorities to bring to book and punish the culprits for committing such inhuman act," the spokesman said.
Union minister Venkaiah Naidu gave Rs 50,000 as financial aid to Ravinder’s family.
The Union urban development minister accompanied by Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party president Manoj Tiwari met the family members of the victim. He also visited the spot outside the metro station where Ravinder was beaten to death.
“Naidu gave a Rs 50,000 cheque from his own account to the wife of the deceased as an interim relief. We have also talked to the commissioner of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation for providing a job for her,” Tiwari said.
The minister also directed the police to arrest, as soon as possible, the men responsible for killing Ravinder, whom he described as a promoter of Swachh Bharat.
Tiwari said, “The irony is that the spot where the e-rickshaw driver was beaten to death is hardly a few metres away from a Sulabh Shauchalaya complex. It is perhaps the first case where someone has given his life in the country for promoting cleanliness and sanitation and we are committed to support Ravinder’s family.”
The Delhi government also announced Rs 5 lakh compensation for Ravinder’s family.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who announced the compensation, said the amount will be provided from the LG-CM’s relief fund.
A senior government official said the deputy chief minister spoke to Lt Governor Anil Baijal before approving the compensation amount.
Sisodia has expressed grief at the brutal incident.
Earlier in the day, Naidu had asked the Delhi Police chief to take stern action against those involved in the killing.
‘Sad that an e-rickshaw driver was beaten to death for stopping two people from urinating in public in Delhi. He was promoting Swachh Bharat,’ Naidu tweeted.
He said he has spoken with Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik and asked him to take the ‘strongest action possible’ against the culprits.
Image used for representational purposes only. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images
