Chhattisgarh: Three Raipur friends stabbed to death at dhaba over petty argument, eight held, minors involved

RAIPUR: A late-night food stop over at a dhaba, turned deadly in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari district when three friends from Raipur were brutally stabbed to death by a group of youths including minors, following a petty dispute. The incident took place late on Monday at Arjuni area when an argument broke out between a group of friends and local village youths. Tempers flared and the youths pulled out knives, launching a frenzied assault on three men leading to their death. Dhamtari superintendent of police Suraj Singh Parihar said that five youths were arrested and three juveniles detained, within hours of the incident, as the matter was reported immediately by eatery staff where the incident took place.All the accused were drunk during the time of crime and worked as labourers in the nearby areas. SP said that they were arguing with dhaba owner over the payment of bill when the victims Alok Singh, Nitin Tandi and Suresh Hiyal of Raipur, arrived the spot for dinner and were accompanied by local friends too. While the exact topic of altercation was being investigated, eye witnesses at food joint said that the accused group poked the friends by passing some comments with verbal abuses.

This led to a violent brawl when one of the accused Gopi Diwan, 20, pulled out a knife he was carrying in his pocked and stabbed the three friends. Eye-witnesses said the assailants chased one victim for nearly 100 metres before stabbing him in chest. Two of the other friends managed to escape through nearby fields and raise the alarm.No one at the food joint dared to intervene as it turned into a gory sight and the three men died on the spot. Police were informed and teams were dispersed to the spot of crime and different locations to trace the accused. While two of them were nabbed from a spot near the dhaba, others were caught within the town limits, along with seizure of weapon used in crime. The four other arrested were identified as Kuleshwar Netam, 25, Ranveer Sahu, 20, Kamlesh Dhruv, 19 and Gautam Diwan, 22.