May 3: An elderly man was assaulted while a youth was stabbed five times when a fight broke out between two groups attending a marriage reception ceremony in a north Delhi community hall on Sunday evening.
The police said the victims have been identified as Altamash Quereshi, 23, a resident of Gokulpuri, and Syed Abdullah, 50, from Ajmeri Gate. Both were declared dead at the hospital late on Sunday.
The incident took place in the Kotwali area during a wedding ceremony. The police said the incident was reported at around 11 pm at Kaccha Bagh Community Hall in the area where a wedding reception was taking place.
Police sources said Altamash, who belonged to groom’s side, was bursting crackers when a cracker accidentally hit a person who suffered minor injuries. Seeing this, Abdullah, who was attending his cousin Mohammad Asim’s marriage, went to Altamash and asked him not to burst crackers as it was causing nuisance in the party and the two got into an argument.
“A group of men arrived at the scene and got into an argument with Abdullah which turned violent. Abdullah, who had reportedly intervened in the matter, was thrashed by youth from groom’s side and he sustained sever injuries. His sons Salim and Faizan immediately rushed him to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries,” a police official said.
The police official said the matter was initially resolved by the conflicting parties but turned ugly when the news about the death of Abdullah was received by the family.
“During the fight, Altamash was stabbed by Salim’s friend, identified as Salman. Altamash suffered five stab injuries in his lower abdomen and was taken to LNJP hospital where he was declared brought dead,” the official said.
A case has been registered and efforts are on to arrest Salman who is absconding, the police said.