Volleyball player stabbed to death in Delhi

New Delhi: A 26-year-old volleyball player was stabbed to death by a group of five-six unidentified persons here, police said on Friday.

The deceased, identified as Rohit Khapra, a resident of Moti Bagh in South Delhi, along with his friend, Vivek Negi, had gone to meet his aunt on a bike in Rohini Sector-16 area on Thursday night, police said.

The incident took place around 11.30 p.m. when Rohit and Vivek indulged in a brawl with five to six unidentified persons, who were consuming alcohol.

Police said the accused told Rohit and Vivek to leave, and the argument between them later turned into a heated argument.

"The accused then started beating Rohit with sticks and stabbed multiple times with knives," a senior police officer said.

When Vivek came to his rescue, they also threatened him with dire consequences, the officer said.

They continued to beat Rohit for almost half-an-hour, until he died on the spot. All the accused managed to flee as some people gathered there, police said.

Rohit was taken to B.R. Ambedkar hospital where he was declared `brought dead`.

"During investigation, we found that Rohit earlier stayed in Rohini Sector-16 and was also involved in several criminal activities and had also been lodged in Tihar Jail earlier. He was working as a property dealer-cum-financier and had previous animosity with one Mukesh Thakur, Rohit and Shekhar, residents of Sector-15 in Rohini," he said.

"We have identified three of the six accused involved. They are still on the run. We are looking for them," he added.

Rohit was a native of Sonepat in Haryana. His father Joginder Khapra who gives volleyball training in a sports academy, is a retired Indian Air Force (IAF) officer, according to police.

According to his family members, Rohit wanted to donate his eyes after his death, so they have donated his eyes to fulfil his last wish.