5 juveniles stab teen to death on Holi in Mohali, held

Holi festivities turned into mourning for a family in Balongi after a 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death by five juveniles in the area’s market on Friday.

Acting swiftly, police nabbed all five juveniles, who have been sent to juvenile justice home. While four accused are residents of Balongi, one is a Chandigarh resident.

All accused are daily wagers, with one also driving an auto-rickshaw like the victim, Akash.

Eldest among four siblings, Akash had gone to the Balongi market on Holi when the accused surrounded him and stabbed him to death, his father, Rajwinder Chauhan, who sells vegetables for a living and hails from Uttar Pradesh, told police.

Chauhan narrated that when he reached the market around 12 pm, he saw five boys circling his son and exchanging heated arguments.

Before he could intervene, one of the juveniles stabbed his son in his leg with a sharp-edged weapon and others attacked him with a knife. As the shocked father raised the alarm, the accused fled the spot, leaving his son in a pool of blood.

The complainant rushed his son to the Phase-6 civil hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

“One of the accused had a fight with the victim two days before Holi. The victim had slapped him repeatedly in public. Nursing a grudge, the accused summoned his friends on spotting Akash in the market on Holi and murdered him,” a cop said.

All accused have been booked under Sections 103 (1) (murder), 190 (unlawful assemblies) and 191 (3) (rioting while armed with a deadly weapon) of BNS at the Balongi police station.