24-year-old Jatin, was beaten to death and his friend Pankaj Kumar (21) was severely injured by a mob led by one Ramzan Ali in South Delhi’s Sangam Vihar on the night of December 20.

While police and media reports are claiming that Jatin and Pankaj were attacked for resisting a robbery bid, the brutality of the attack and the fact that the accused threw the victims into a gutter hints at something more. It is said that attackers robbed ₹3,000 from the two victims.

CCTV video footage of the incident shows the group of men attacking the victims, beating them with bricks, rocks and pieces of concrete lying by the roadside. Afterwards, they dumped them into a nearby drain.

As per Hindustan Times, Additional deputy commissioner of police (south) Harsha Vardhan Mandava said the police were informed about the crime around 12pm on Tuesday, almost 10 hours later. A case of robbery and attempt to murder was registered on the complaint of one of the victims, Pankaj Kumar.

“Both the injured men were admitted to AIIMS Trauma Centre. One of them, identified as Jatin, succumbed to his injuries on December 22. Pankaj was discharged after medical attention. Since one of the victims died, we have added section 302 (murder) in the first information report (FIR). Two suspected attackers were apprehended. One of them was identified as Ramjan Ali. The age of the other suspect is being ascertained. Efforts are on to nab the absconding attackers,” said Mandava.

Pankaj told police that he and Jatin were lying in the canal for some time. He finally managed to get up and called Jatin’s brother, who then rushed him to AIIMS Trauma Centre. The FIR states that Jatin suffered multiple injuries on his face and succumbed to injuries.