An auto rickshaw driver was stabbed in Delhi's Connaught Place.
An auto rickshaw driver died after he was stabbed allegedly by a passenger in the heart of Delhi late last night. The 26-year-old driver was stabbed over charging extra fare at night and carrying an additional passenger. Three people were arrested and a blood-stained knife was found.
The murder took place in central Delhi's Connaught Place.
Passers-by alerted the police after noticing the auto driver bleeding. The driver, identified as Jahangir Alam, told them that he was stabbed by a passenger.
He was taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, about 2 km away, where he died during treatment.
The man who called up the police said he saw the auto rickshaw driver running towards him. "He was bleeding. He was not able to speak. We got scared and asked him what happened. He fell on the ground. He said a passenger stabbed him but he didn't who the person was," said Ratan Singh Chauhan, a resident of Gujarat who was visiting Delhi.
The 19-year-old man who allegedly stabbed the auto driver was caught by the public near Connaught Place and handed over to the police. Subsequently, two more men, both residents of Dakshin Puri, were also arrested, Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Madhur Verma said.
During interrogation, the police learnt that four men had hired the auto from Khanpur in south Delhi to go to Connaught Place. On the way, a argument broke out between the driver and the passengers over the former charging a higher fare at night and carrying an extra passenger, which led to the stabbing of the auto driver, a police officer said.
According to data from Delhi Police, 62 of the 337 killings (18.39 per cent) reported in the national capital till September 15 this year were triggered by sudden provocation over trivial issues.
(With inputs from PTI, IANS and ANI)