22-year-old dies after goons smash paver blocks on head over argument

A 22-year-old man in Mumbai died after being attacked with paver blocks during a roadside argument. Three suspects have been arrested.

MUMBAI: A 22-year-old man died after three men on a motorcycle smashed his head with paver blocks over a roadside argument in Khairani Road, Sakinaka on Sunday. Police arrested the three accused from Govandi within six hours of the incident and booked them on charges of murder. The three have been identified as Anas Shaikh, 21, Gulfaraz Khan, 25 and Afzal Syed, 24, all of them are known for unlawful activities in Khairani Road.

22-year-old dies after goons smash paver blocks on head over argument

According to officers, the deceased Soheb Ansari had come to the city around two months ago from his village in Uttar Pradesh and started working as a carpenter.

Soheb’s brother Saddam told the police that he had sent his younger brother to buy lunch for them around midday on Sunday. “I last spoke to him around 2.30pm and he had said he would be back in 20 minutes. However, twenty minutes later, I got a call informing me that Soheb was rushed to a hospital with grievous injuries,” said Saddam.

Some passers-by told him that Soheb was walking past SJ studio at Khairani Road when an argument erupted between him and three motorcycle-bound men. A few exchanges later, the men started assaulting Soheb, including hitting him on the head with loose paver blocks that they found by the roadside. He was taken to a nearby hospital where the doctors declared him dead upon arrival, after which the police booked unknown persons for murder (IPC 302) and launched a manhunt. “Soheb had come to Mumbai with big aspirations. He was happy to start contributing to the family financially and was excited about living in the big city. Who knew the city would take him away from us,” Saddam said. The family hails from Underway village in UP’s Basti district. Soheb was not very far from their local residence at Khairani Road when the assault took place.

When police checked the CCTV footage of the incident, they immediately recognised the three accused as all of them were known miscreants in the area. While the three ran away from their homes after the assault, the police made use of local intelligence to track them down from Govandi within six hours of the incident.

One of the policemen who spoke to the accused said that the dispute started when Soheb pushed one of the accused while walking fast towards his home. “From what we gather, they intended to scare and bully him. They did not realise the paver block would end up causing his death,” he said.