A 25-year-old man was killed at laksar in Haridwar apparently over a trifle-a scarf, by his friend on Tuesday. It was a scarf that the alleged killer had borrowed from the victim a couple of days ago but when on the day of the incident the victim asked his friend to return the scarf, a scuffle ensued between them. Meanwhile, the victim’s friend took a knife from the cart of a fruit seller and started stabbing his friend. A few passersby recorded the killing on their mobile phones with the video also going viral. Police arrested the accused on Wednesday.
However, the victim's family alleged that the killing of the youth was the result of a premeditated crime by the accused with the help of another person whom police are now allegedly trying to shield though this person has also been named in the police complaint lodged by the victim's family.
The exact motive behind the killing is still unclear but police said that victim and accused were friends who had a fight over a trifle on Tuesday with the scuffle escalating into a fatal encounter for one of them. “Sanju, Abhishek and Aman were fast friends. On the day of incident, Sanju asked Abhishek to return his scarf. After the two started arguing about the return of the scarf that had been borrowed by Abhishek a few days ago, he took a knife from the cart of a fruit seller and started stabbing Sanju repeatedly,” said Chandan Singh Bisht, laksar police circle officer.