Car mechanic, aides beat scribe's father to death

Times News Network

Manali: The father of a journalist from Mohali was allegedly beaten to death by a car mechanic and his friends on Thursday morning. He was trying to rescue his son from the accused.

Amit Sethi alleged that he and his family had come to Mandi on Wednesday evening and were going to Baglamukhi temple for pilgrimage on Thursday morning.

“We stopped for breakfast at Pandoh at 9.30am. I noticed very low air pressure in one of the tyres of my car and asked the mechanic near the dhaba to inflate it. He replied that he does not fill air in just one tyre. I said I will pay him, on which he got angry and started arguing with me. Meanwhile, four more persons came and started thrashing me and dragged me into the shop,” he said.

He added that his father, Chander Mohan, came to his rescue, but they started roughing him up too. “My father is a heart patient. He complained of severe pain. I managed to get out of the scuffle and rushed him to Mandi hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. Police have detained four persons and I have identified three of them. Post-mortem will be conducted on Friday morning. I am waiting for the report,” he said.

Mandi SP Gurdev Chand Sharma said four persons involved in the scuffle have been taken into custody for investigation. “A case under Section 304-A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC has been registered and investigation is on. Post-mortem report is awaited to reach any conclusion,” he said.