Quarrel between 2 groups leads to vandalisim, firing in north Delhi; 3 arrested

Tension gripped north Delhi's Kucha Mohtar Khan area after around 12 men allegedly entered a locality, fired in the air and vandalised vehicles to exact revenge from another group with whom they had a quarrel, police said on Monday.

The incident was reported late on Sunday night.

Three men have been arrested in connection with the incident so far, police said, adding that raids are being conducted to nab the remaining culprits.

At least three local residents received minor injuries in the incident, police said.

According to the police, a group of locals had a quarrel with a man named Lalit Yadav and and his brother-in-law.

Following the quarrel, Yadav called up his associates, who then reached the locality with arms to take revenge from the locals. They vandalised several vehicles and went into every lane of the locality in search of the group of men, with whom they had a fight.

However, the locals had allegedly fled the spot soon after the quarrel.

Yadav alias Pongi, declared a "Bad Character" by the Model Town police station, is wanted in connection with a case registered against him there under section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 452 (house-tresspass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint) of the Indian Penal Code, police said.

After the case was lodged, Lalit came and hid at in-law's house in the locality in Kucha Mohtar Khan area. During his stay at the locality, he had a fight with the locals.

On Monday, when a team from Kashmiri Gate police station reached the locality, they found three to four cars damaged while several bikes had fallen on the ground.

While locals alleged that they heard multiple being rounds fired in the air, police claimed that they initially recovered three empty rounds from the spot while another empty round was recovered when their crime team conducted an inspection.

During enquiry, locals told police that a group of men had come to the locality and knocked on their houses. Some had even entered the house of one of the residents and were searching for someome specific but the residents could not name any of them, a senior police officer said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Monika Bhardwaj said on the complaint of a local resident, a case has been registered for rioting and under other relevant sections. A search is also on for the accused, she said.

"During investigation , it was found that there was a quarrel between a group of men from the locality and Yadav, who is a declared a 'Bad Character'. Yadav later called his associates to teach the men, who he had a qwuarrel wth, a lesson," she said.

According to locals, a group of men, who were involved in the quarrel with Yadav, were roaming in the locality when they spotted him and his brother-in-law indulging in a fight with a family. When they intervened, a quarrel broke out between them, she said.

On searching the house of Lalit's in-laws, police found household items scattered and suspect that soon after the quarrel, they must have fled the spot with their essentials.

Since the incident, tension has gripped the area and residents are concerned about their safety, locals were seen saying in videos which have surfaced after the incident.

In the video, a family residing in the locality recalled, ""We fear for our lives. We were sleeping when two men with their faces covered barged into our house with knives and sticks. They tried to break our television and furniture. They even tried to break our door. We do not know who they were. One of the kids in our family also sustained minor injuries." Another resident alleged that men with their faces covered barged into their house and threatened one of the family member with a knife.

There are no CCTV cameras installed in the area and raids are being conducted to nab Lalit and his other associates, who are still absconding, police added.