Mumbai: An eighteen-year-old youth who had slapped two men who were making out with a woman near his residence in Chembur a week earlier was stabbed to death on Wednesday, allegedly by the same two men and their accomplice. The incident occurred outside the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) in the early hours on Wednesday and some auto drivers had seen the accused attack the youth and flee from the spot, said police.
According to the Tilak Nagar police, the deceased, Jay Shinde alias Khushal, 18, was a resident of Saibaba Nagar in Chembur. On July 30, around 1.30am, he and other residents of the area found two men – identified as Deepya Sandeep Bhosale alias Deepesh and Sumit Anil Sonawane, both residents of Chembur – making out with a woman inside an auto rickshaw parked opposite the Godrej Central apartment block in Shell Colony.
“Local residents reprimanded the trio and Jay Shinde even slapped the two men before the trio was allowed to leave the spot,” said an officer from Tilak Nagar police station, where the case was registered.
On Wednesday, at around 3am, Shinde and his friend-cum-neighbour Samadhan Sonawane, the complainant, visited the nearby LTT station to have tea. While they were looking for a tea stall, they came across Deepya Bhosale and Sumit Sonawane, who were accompanied by a friend, Kartik alias Butter Waghmare.
“When Deepya saw Jay Shinde, he told his friends that he had been slapped by the latter a week earlier in front of a lot of people,” said the officer quoted earlier. “The three men then decided to assault Shinde.”
Sumit Sonawane and Kartik allegedly caught hold of Shinde while Deepya allegedly fetched a knife from his pocket and stabbed Shinde on his chest and on the left side of his stomach.
“Shinde’s friend (Samadhan Sonawane) who was trying to protect him fled from the spot once the assailants stabbed Shinde. Even taxi drivers and auto drivers who were lurking nearby fled from the scene,” said the officer.
When Samadhan Sonawane returned to the spot some time later with another friend, he learnt that Shinde had been taken to Rajawadi Hospital by locals. At Rajawadi Hospital, he was told that his friend was no more, following which he informed the deceased’s family.
The Tilak Nagar police subsequently registered a case against the Deepya Bhosale, Sumit Sonawane and Kartik, based on a complaint by Samadhan Sonawane. The accused were booked under sections 103 (1) (murder), 115 (voluntarily causing hurt), 351 (criminal intimidation) and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.