A 26-year-old man was brutally thrashed, with his head banged against a wall multiple times and assaulted with sticks, inside a dargaah (tomb) in Ludhiana after he reportedly killed a rooster that belonged to tomb’s head sewadaar, police said on Thursday. The Government Railway Police (GRP), in a statement, said that the accused, Harjinder Pal, alias Baba Pammi Shah, 58, the head sewadar of the tomb near Dhandari Kalan railway station, was arrested. The GRP further said that Shah during interrogation said that he lost his temper seeing his white rooster being “brutally killed whom he had raised like his child for over four years”. The deceased was identified as Umesh Yadav, 26, a native of Ballian, Uttar Pradesh, and a current resident of Mundian, Ludhiana. Rahul Yadav, in his statement, told police that on Monday evening (October 6), he along with his cousin Umesh were returning from Dhandari railway station after seeing off their relative. However soon Umesh got unwell and started getting fits. Umesh then barged into the nearby tomb where a white rooster was roaming. Rahul said that Umesh twisted the rooster’s neck and killed him. Rahul further said that seeing the rooster dead, three men came and opened an attack on him and Umesh. He added that they kept thrashing Umesh with sticks and soon they also called Harjinder, the head sewadaar of the tomb and owner of the rooster. Furious seeing his rooster lying dead on the floor, Harjinder also started thrashing Umesh and banged his head against the wall several times till he turned unconscious, Rahul’s statement added. The complainant added that he too was thrashed with sticks and locked in a room from where he called his father Bajrangi Yadav who reached the spot. Rahul said that his father Bajrangi was also thrashed by Harjinder and his accomplices and locked in the room. Rahul said that they could rush Umesh to hospital only by Monday night when the sewaadar released them and he also threatened them to not report the incident to the police. However, Umesh was declared dead at Ludhiana Civil Hospital Tuesday morning. Inspector Palwinder Singh, incharge, GRP police station, Ludhiana, said that the main accused was arrested when he was trying to flee the city. He added that Harjinder in his interrogation said that he was emotionally attached to his rooster whom he had raised like a child from four years, so he got furious seeing him brutally killed. The inspector said that efforts were being made to nab the sewadaar’s accomplices and a murder case has been registered at GRP Ludhiana police station against the accused on Rahul’s statement.
