Desk Correspondent , Delhi - An alleged murder of a 26 year old, Tarun Butolia from Uttam Nagar, by the men of his muslim neighbours, took Delhi into shock. The incident took place on 4th March, when the entire nation was celebrating the festival of Holi. It was supposed to be a fun event until one of Tarun’s relatives, an 11 years old cousin, mistakenly splashed a water ball on the accused family’s female member.

The woman was furious after the incident and so she called her relatives, 10-12 armed men, with sticks to attack the victim’s family. The father of the victim narrated the incident to one of the channels  and said that, ‘’when they came to attack, the family rushed inside their home, while the accused family locked them from outside.’’ And while all this was happening, the same cousin had called Tarun and informed him about it, after which the victim came running home, where he was attacked and put down with a huge stone on his chest after which he was rushed to hospital and was under treatment but later passed away on 5th, March unable to overcome the pain and suffering from the wounds. 

The feud became a communal conflict following the victim’s unfortunate death. People started gathering in larger numbers around the area on Friday, burnt a car and a motorcycle. A protest was held by the members of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad near Uttam Nagar East metro station. The incident was immediately acknowledged by the Chief Minister of Delhi, Rekha Gupta, who met the victim’s family on Monday and assured them that justice will be served. She has also ensured that the family is protected, and all necessary actions are taken against the accused. She considered it to be a heinous crime, and implied that the current government has a zero-tolerance policy against such violent acts.“I will personally ensure that Tarun’s family receives every possible support and that justice is delivered,” she said. 

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), on Monday had sent a team to demolish the illegal portion of the accused’s property. Although the neighbours and the victim’s family were not satisfied with this, they demanded that the nearby properties of the accused be demolished too.

Although the Delhi high court asked the MCD verbally not to continue with the demolition, to which MCD argued that they did not require any notice, since they had demolished only the portion that was illegal. 

The Delhi Police has detained fourteen people including a minor till date. Imran aka Bunty, a 38 year old accused, was also taken under custody on Sunday. Recent development suggested that the minor, 14, Rizwan who was sent to Observation Home by the Juvenile Justice Board had escaped but Delhi Police refused this allegation. The family members of the accused said that Rizwan was under treatment after severe injuries from the night of conflict and was admitted in the World Brain Hospital on Dabri Road, from where he was allegedly abducted by anonymous individuals, but it was later found that he was being detained by the police officials for further inquiry.