Bahadurgarh (Jhajjar), February 5
In a barbaric act, two youths were burnt to death by about six persons, when they were sleeping in the house here last night. The incident is reportedly the outcome of rivalry between two families in Mandothi village which started about 10 years ago during panchayat elections.
The assailants spilled petrol inside the room in which they were sleeping and then set them on fire. The incident occurred in Shyam Colony at about 2 am. The deceased, Sanjay, son of Mr Om Prakash, along with his relative Amit, son of Shriniwas, a resident of Bohar village in Rohtak district, were sleeping in a room on the first floor of his house.
Other members of the family, including Mr Om Prakash and mother Gyan Devi, were sleeping on the ground floor. They hail from Mandothi village and shifted here about 10 years ago.
The father of the victim in his statement to the police identified the assailants as Hardeep and Manoj, sons of Mr Shiv Kumar, Sonu and Jasvir, sons of Mr Umed Singh, Kuldeep, son of Devender and Jaggi, son of Chand Ram, all residents of Mandothi village. He said the accused reached the terrace of the house from the rear of the house with the help of a ladder.
The assailants pumped 20 litres of petrol inside the room, bolted it from outside and then set it afire. On hearing screams, he went up and found about six persons there, all armed with pistols. The accused asked him to keep quite and left the spot one by one. The entire room and household items were reduced to ashes.
However, after the assailants left, he broke open the door of the room and tried to extinguish the fire. With the help of some neighbours, he took Sanjay to a private hospital where doctors referred him to Safdarjang Hospital in Delhi, but he succumbed to burns on the way. The other youth had died on the spot.
The police reached the spot early in the morning and started investigations. Sources said it appeared to be revenge killings as Sanjay was also booked in a case of murder but was later acquitted by the court. Some persons also made an attempt to kill him when he was admitted to PGIMS in Rohtak after an accident on December 7 last year but he escaped with a bullet injury.
The rivalry began in 1994 when the deceased Sanjay’s uncle, Sukhbir, contested the panchayat election against Hansraj, alias Sunda.
However, Sukhbir was shot dead in 1996. Two years later, Hansraj was also killed and Sanjay was the main accused in the case. The DSP, Bahadurgarh, visited the spot today but none of the accused has been arrested so far.
