Friday, October 21, 2011

Oct 22, 2011: Drunks brawl with diners, kill youth

, TNN | Oct 22, 2011, 12.46AM IST
MUMBAI: A 24-year-old hotel employee was stabbed to death and his friend seriously injured by a gang of men in Andheri (West) on Thursday night after they protested the eve-teasing of their female friends. Three men have been arrested for the crime.

Keenan Sentos, a bartender in a five-star hotel, and six of his friends-including three women-were waiting at a paan shop in Amboli when four drunken men came by. One of the drunks purposely fell on a woman in Sentos' group, and when her friends objected, a brawl ensued.

The four drunks retreated, only to return minutes afterwards with, according to one account, a dozen more men. The large gang first assaulted Sentos and his male friends-Rubin Fernandes, Avinash Bali and Benjamin Fernandes-and then stabbed him and Rubin. Sentos died soon after in a hospital. Rubin, a student, is still critical.

The DN Nagar police early on Friday arrested three men-Jitendra Rana, Sunil Bodh and Satish Dulhaj-in the case and are on the lookout for a fourth, Dipak. They have registered a case of murder under section 302 of Indian Penal Code. Officers said it was these four who first brawled with Sentos and his friends and thereafter brought backup. It is learnt that Sentos and Rubin were stabbed by two of the four accused, though it is unclear precisely by whom. A local court remanded Rana, Bodh and Dulhaj to 14 days' police custody.

A cousin of Sentos, Valentine Silveira, said, "What did they achieve by killing an innocent man? Wasn't beating him enough to sate their anger? Why kill him? All the accused should be caught by the police and punished."

The sordid sage began around 10.30pm, when Sentos and his friends exited the Amboli Bar and Kitchen in Amboli after having dinner there. Spotting a paan shop outside, they stopped by. While they were waiting for their paans, four drunken men-Rana, Bodh, Dulhaj and Dipak-came to the shop. To his buddies' amusement, one of the drunks deliberately stumbled onto a woman accompanying Sentos. When Bali and other men in Sentos's group objected, the four drunks stepped closer. An altercation ensued, followed by a scuffle. The four drunks withdrew but returned minutes later with, according to Silveira, with about 12 other men.

The gang first assaulted Sentos and other men in his group with bottles and sticks, and then stabbed Sentos and Rubin, both in the stomach. The women in the group were not harmed.

Once the gang left, Bali and others, with the help of bystanders, rushed Sentos and Rubin toKokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. About an hour after admission, Sentos succumbed to his wounds. Rubin, meanwhile, is still battling for his life.

Police said they cracked the case in the wee hours of Friday when they visited a slum near Amboli Bar and Kitchen. During their search, officers found most houses shut save one in which they discovered beer bottles and a knife similar to the one described by Bali. A little questioning after that allowed them to identify the attackers.

Vijay Bhoite, senior police inspector of D N Nagar, said, "We have arrested three accused. We are now trying to establish their individual roles in the crime."

No comments:

Post a Comment