Refusal to lend matchbox to light cigarette ends in murder of Delhi man, 3 held

A seemingly trivial refusal to lend a matchbox to light a cigarette escalated into a fatal quarrel and stabbing incident in northwest Delhi, leaving a 30-year-old man dead and another injured, police said on Wednesday.

The incident took place on Tuesday in front of a wine shop in the Keshav Puram area when the victims, Bhawani and Asha Ram, allegedly got into an argument with three people after they were asked for a matchbox to light a cigarette, they said.

Police said when they refused that they don’t have any matchbox, a verbal spat ensued between the accused and the victims. The accused allegedly attacked the two men with fists and a knife following the heated exchange, a senior police officer said.

Bhawani was rushed to Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital, where he was declared brought dead. He had sustained a deep wound on the left side of his back, the officer said.

Asha Ram (32), suffered a stab injury to his left lower chest and was undergoing treatment. He was declared unfit to give a statement.

A case under sections 103(1) (murder) and 109(1) (attempt to murder) of the BNS was registered at Keshav Puram police station.

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Police said they analysed technical inputs and developed local intelligence to identify those involved in the attack. The main accused, identified as Naresh Bahadur alias Nepali (19), was apprehended along with Tarun (19), and a juvenile, the officer said.

“Naresh stabbed both victims with a knife, while Tarun and the juvenile assaulted them with fists. We have recovered the weapon of the offence at the instance of Naresh,” the officer said.

Further investigation is underway.