Gurugram trader axed to death in drunken brawl outside wine shop

A 42-year-old vegetable trader was hacked to death with an axe outside a liquor store on Old Railway Road late Monday night following a sudden altercation with a delivery boy, police said on Tuesday. The accused was arrested within 12 hours, they added.

According to police, Satish Kumar, a resident of Subhash Nagar, Sector 8, and a trader at Khandsa mandi, was found lying in a pool of blood near his running car outside RDS wine shop around 11.20pm. “He had a deep cut on the left side of his neck. He was rushed to a private hospital in Khandsa but declared dead on arrival,” said Sandeep Kumar, public relations officer, Gurugram police.

The accused, Dharmendra Kumar, 34, also a resident of Subhash Nagar, was identified through CCTV footage and arrested from his locality on Tuesday morning, police said.

Sandeep Kumar said, “Locals found Satish lying near his car and alerted police after a delay of nearly 20 minutes. No one initially realised a murder had occurred as everything unfolded quickly.”

Preliminary investigation revealed that Satish, who was allegedly inebriated, had purchased liquor and was drinking near his car. Dharmendra, leaving the store after purchasing liquor, was confronted by Satish, who began hurling abuse, police said. “In a fit of rage, Dharmendra attacked him with an axe, severing his trachea and artery to the brain, leading to instantaneous death,” said Kumar, citing the post-mortem.

An FIR under Section 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered based on a complaint by Satish’s younger brother Manoj Kumar at the Gurugram City police station.

“Crime branch teams are questioning the suspect to determine whether any prior enmity existed and from where he had got the axe,” the PRO added.