Surat: Probe after miscreants ‘stab 40-year-old man to death, attack his friend’

A 40-year-old man was stabbed to death and his friend was severely wounded after the duo was allegedly attacked by a group of 15 youths over an old enmity in Jahangirpura area of Surat on late Saturday. The son of an assistant sub-inspector at Rander police station has been identified as one of the accused, police said on Sunday.

Police said that the incident took place on Ughat road in Jahangirpura area of the city. Jignesh Chauhan (26), a resident of Jahangirpura, and his friend Sunil Venkatraman Ayyar (40) were attacked by a group of youths when they were standing by their car at an isolated location near Sangini garden, police said.

According to police, a group of 15 youths armed with bats, iron rods and knives had attacked Jignesh and Sunil, leaving the two severely injured, and fled the spot. Akar Patel, a friend of the duo, remained in the car at the time of the incident, after which he had called an ambulance. Sunil was declared brought dead on arrival, while Jignesh was admitted to a private hospital and is said to be in a critical condition.

Akar identified three of the 15 accused — Chintan Rakesh Patel, Himanshu Patel and Vithal Patel, all residents of Jahangirpura — and lodged a complaint in this connection at Jahangirpura police station on Sunday morning.

Police Inspector KA Gadhvi said, “We have registered a complaint on the basis of Akar Patel’s statement. There is an old enmity between Chintan and Jignesh over some monetary or land dispute. Chintan is the son of Assistant Sub-Inspector Ramesh Patel, who works at Rander police station in Surat. We are trying to ascertain the whereabouts of the accused and they will be arrested soon.”