65-year-old dies while shielding son from assault

According to the police,the incident occurred in Sonahi village on Sunday evening. One Rajesh Verma,son of Bheem Verma,used to drive a Commander jeep owned by another person. Sunday afternoon,he was returning from nearby Diwanganj when four persons from his village got into his vehicle asking to be dropped at Sonahi. When they reached Sonahi,the four men and Rajesh got into an altercation over payment of fare.

At the time,Rajesh went ahead to Udaiyyadih. When he returned around two hours later,the four men,armed with sticks and rods,forcibly stopped his vehicle on the road and began beating him up. Watching his son being thrashed,Bheem,working in a field alongside the road,intervened. The group then targeted him and hit him several times on his head,following which he died on the spot.

Salman,Altaf and Shahid,along with another,were named in the FIR registered in this connection. “Three of the four accused have been arrested. Efforts are on to nab the fourth. The villagers today morning blocked the Diwanganj chauraha demanding compensation. However,the situation is now normal,” said Station Officer (Kandhai),Radhey Shyam Rao.