Fight over shirt stain leaves student dead

NEW DELHI: A scuffle between schoolmates over a stained shirt resulted in the death of 17-year-old Naveen Singh, a student of Ishwar Chand Inter College in Dadri, Noida on Thursday.

It is learnt that one of the six accused in the case had spewed paan masala on Naveen's shirt on Wednesday. A minor scuffle had also broken out between the students in school on the day, but the presence of school teachers had prevented the fight from blowing up.

But on Thursday, they had an argument over the issue again outside the school premises. The argument soon assumed the shape of a major scuffle. Naveen, a Class 11 student, fell unconscious after he was kicked and punched by the accused. He was rushed to the nearby Anand Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

A case under sections 147 (rioting) and 302 (murder) of the IPC has been registered at the Dadri police station. Police arrested one of the accused on Friday. The others are absconding.

"We have arrested Bhagat Chaudhari, who was one of the six students who beat up Naveen. The other five are still absconding and we are on the lookout," said Vishnu Chandra Gautam, police inspector, Dadri.

"Chaudhari admitted that while the students were leaving school on Thursday, Naveen had an argument with the six students, which broke into a full-blown fight, resulting in Naveen's death," Gautam said. However, the victim's father, Hira Lal, has told the police that the attack on his son was deliberate and that the students had meant to kill his son.