Man stabbed, stoned to death in gang violence in Palghar

Palghar: A 31-year-old man was stabbed and stoned to death by a group of men on a busy road in Maharashtra's Palghar district in a gang-related violence, police said on Sunday.

The police have taken one person into custody, and a search has been launched for several others involved in the gruesome killing that took place in the Nalasopara area late on Friday night, an official said.

A CCTV footage, which has gone viral on social media, showed a group of men intercepting an autorickshaw, dragging the victim out, stabbing him and hitting him with stones.

The victim, Shubham Mishra, a resident of Gala Nagar in Nalasopara East, was travelling in an autorickshaw when the accused, who were part of a rival gang, stopped the vehicle on the pretext of wanting cigarettes, he said.

"The accused dragged Mishra out and launched a violent attack using knives and heavy stones," he said.

Mishra sustained grievous injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed during treatment around midnight, the official said.

As per preliminary probe, the dispute between the victim and the accused began at a local bar, he said, adding that the killing may have been a fallout of an enmity between two gangs.

The Nalasopara police have registered a case under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including murder and criminal conspiracy, the official said.

"We have taken one person into custody so far. A massive search has been launched to track down the other absconding accused," he said, adding that the attack in public caused tension in the locality, prompting a heavy police presence to maintain law and order.