Punjab: Student From Meghalaya Killed, One Hurt In Clash During Party

A 21-year-old engineering student from Shillong was killed and his friend seriously injured after they were allegedly assaulted by their neighbours, who claimed they were having a loud birthday celebration, police said today. The incident happened last night in Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar area in Phagwara, Punjab, Satnampura SHO Sukhpal Singh said. Irked by the noise, two brothers - Rahul Kumar and his younger brother Ashok Kumar - allegedly assaulted the students with blunt objects, including a baseball bat, Mr Singh added. A police team, headed by ASP Harish Dyama, arrested the two accused from Kotrani culvert on a tip-off, Phagwara SP Parminder Singh Bhandal told reporters. Four other accused Abhishek and Ankit (both teenaged sons of Rahul) and Rohit and Rishab (teenaged sons of Ashok) were still absconding, Mr Bhandal said. He said a baseball bat and a wooden handle of a spade used to hit the victims were recovered from the accused. Mr Bhandal said all six accused had first brickbatted the rented accommodation of a paying guest house where six students of the private university lived. They then broke the door of the PG house and barged into it, attacking Ashish, his friend Aman Kumar and others with blunt and sharp-edged weapons, he said. The one killed has been identified as Ashish Kumar, a resident of Shillong and a final year B Tech student in a private university in Punjab. He sustained head injuries and died on the spot, Mr Singh said. The injured, Aman Kumar, also a final year B. Tech student and a resident of Bihar, was rushed to a nearby hospital, the SHO said. The accused have been charged with murder, he said.