Shopkeeper killed over petty dispute in Kalyan; five arrested

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A 40-year-old shopkeeper was allegedly killed over a petty dispute last night on the occasion of 'Gudi Padwa' in Kalyan township of the district, police said on Monday. The Thane police on Monday arrested five people, including two autorickshaw drivers, their wives and a relative, in connection with the killing, as per the FIR lodged at the Kolsewadi police station in Kalyan. According to the police, the autorickshaw drivers were neighbours of the victim at a chawl on Haji Malang road in Kalyan. They used to park their three-wheelers in front of the chawl's main entrance, causing inconvenience to other residents.

The victim, who used to run a stationery shop, yesterday asked the two autorickshaw drivers, who had again parked their vehicles in front of the chawl, to move their three-wheelers from there. This enraged the autorickshaw drivers, who then allegedly caught hold of the shopkeeper and beat him up severely, banged his head on a window grill and also tried to throttle him. When the victim's wife tried to intervene, the accused thrashed her also, said the FIR.

The severely injured shopkeeper was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead, the police said. Based on the complaint of the victim's wife, the police lodged an FIR and arrested the five accused in the wee hours today. The accused were booked under IPC sections pertaining to murder, voluntarily causing hurt, unlawful assembly and rioting, the police added. The incident happened on 'Gudi Padwa', which was celebrated yesterday by Maharashtrians to welcome the Hindu New Year, by putting up colourful gudis at their houses.

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