NEW DELHI, 8 AUG

Actor Huma Qureshi's cousin was stabbed to death following a dispute over parking in southeast Delhi's Bhogal area. Two youths have been apprehended in connection with his death, an official said on Friday.

Asif Qureshi (42), a resident of Church Lane in Bhogal, sustained a grievous injury to his chest after being attacked with a pointed object during a heated altercation late Thursday night, he said.

The incident was captured on CCTV, a clip of which surfaced on social media platforms. The CCTV clip shows pushing and shoving as Asif is being dragged and attacked by two men, amid loud cries of help from people nearby.

According to police, the incident took place around 10.30 pm when Asif confronted a man for parking a scooter in front of his house.

The confrontation quickly escalated and Asif was allegedly attacked with a "poker-type" weapon, inflicting a deep wound in his chest.

Police said the victim collapsed at the spot and was rushed to the National Heart Institute in East of Kailash, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

A case under sections 103(1) [murder] and 3(5) [common intention] of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered at Hazrat Nizamuddin police station.

Ujjwal (19) and Gautam (18), both residents of the same locality, have been apprehended for the killing.

"Initially, we got to know that Ujjwal, who is a musician by profession, returned home and parked his scooter near Asif's house. Asif asked him to remove the scooter from there. Angered by it, he returned with his brother Gautam and attacked Asif," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Hemant Tiwari told PTI.

He further said that Ujjwal has no criminal past, while Gautam was held previously over a fight.

Police said Ujjwal and Gautam live on the second floor of a building at Church Lane, just a few houses away from the victim's residence, police said.

Both were taken into custody soon after the incident. "Further investigation is underway to ascertain the sequence of events and the role of each accused in the assault," said the officer.

The body of the deceased has been sent for post-mortem.

The DCP said they found no communal angle in the incident.

The victim's wife, Shaheen Asif Qureshi, alleged that the murder was premeditated and that her husband had been attacked by the same people in the past.

"The dispute started after a youth parked a scooter near our gate, blocking the entrance. When my husband requested him to move it a little, he allegedly began hurling abuses," she said.

He said he would move the scooter, but instead returned with more people and started abusing him, Shaheen said.

"Ujjwal suddenly attacked him in the chest. He fell down instantly and was soon covered in blood. I tried to save him, but I was pushed away. Then some more people, who live with them, also attacked and abused him," she said.

According to Shaheen, her husband had been previously assaulted by the same group in November last year.

"They were jealous of him. They had made an issue out of nothing. If it were just about the scooter, they could have moved it. But they stabbed him in the chest with a sharp object. This was not a sudden fight. They did it on purpose," she alleged.

She said her husband worked as a chicken supplier and rarely interacted with those involved in the killing or their family.

"We never talked to them. We used to sit in our own group in the neighbourhood. They had treated him as an enemy without any reason," she alleged.

Shaheen also mentioned that after the attack, she immediately called her brother-in-law and rushed Asif to the hospital. However, the doctors there declared him dead on arrival.

Asif's uncle and the father of actor Huma Qureshi, Saleem Qureshi, said he was at his home when he received the call.

"Asif had only asked the boy to move the scooter a little further so that the gate wouldn't be blocked. But they turned it into a matter of ego and killed him," he said.

Describing Asif as a simple and hardworking man, Saleem said Asif used to supply chicken to restaurants for a living.

"No one came when the murder happened. The police arrived later and started the investigation," he said.

Saleem called it a heinous crime over a trivial matter. "It is a murder over a small issue. It shows how fragile tempers have become in our society. People are getting killed for the most petty reasons," he said, adding that the accused must get strict punishment and justice for the family.

Police said they are examining CCTV footage and speaking to local residents to reconstruct the sequence of events. Senior officers visited the crime scene and questioned the neighbours and family members.

"Efforts are being made to establish the motive and verify claims of previous hostility between the families," another senior police officer said.