Delhi University student killed one week after fight with accused: Cops
Nikhil Chouhan was stabbed outside Aryabhatta College on Sunday and died in front of his girlfriend.
The four people involved in the Sunday killing of a 19-year-old Delhi University student planned the murder for a week, after they were involved in a scuffle with the victim, police officers aware of the matter said on Monday, adding that they have arrested a second suspect in connection with the case.
Nikhil Chouhan, 19, who studied in DU’s School of Open Learning (SOL), was stabbed to death in front of his girlfriend on Sunday afternoon outside Aryabhatta College on southwest Delhi’s Benito Juarez Marg. Hours after the murder, police had arrested one of the suspects, identified as Mohammad Haroon alias Anas, 19.
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On Monday, police announced the arrest of a second suspect, identified by his single name Rahul, and said that he, along with two others, identified as Yash and Raj Singh — all SOL students. They said that a week before the murder, on June 11, the three were involved in a scuffle with Chouhan and his girlfriend at Aryabhatta College, where SOL classes are held on weekends.
Deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Manoj C said a police investigation revealed that on June 11, Rahul, Yash and Raj got into a fight with another SOL student identified as Bunty. At this point, Nikhil and his girlfriend — a minor currently studying in school — intervened, but one of the group slapped her, triggering a fight. “The matter was sorted out that day, after a while,” the DCP said.
However, police said, Rahul, Yash and Raj were still angry and decided to continue their fight the next week, also roping in their friend Anas, a school drop-out. Accordingly, they said, they attacked Nikhil when he and his girlfriend exited Aryabhatta College after classes on Sunday, and in the scuffle, Nikhil was stabbed to death.
“The arrested accused are claiming that Raj Singh had stabbed Nikhil. There is a possibility that the number of accused may increase. The sequence of incident can be verified only after the arrest of all accused. We are also looking into the conspiracy angle in the incident,” the DCP said.
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“We are also examining the fact the why had Nikhil’s female friend gone to college on both the occasions despite being a school student.”
Nikhil’s family alleged a conspiracy behind his murder. “I am unable to believe that for a simple scuffle on June 11, he was killed a week after,” his father Sanjay Chouhan said.
Meanwhile, his mother Sonia Chouhan called for her son’s killers to be given the death penalty.