SANGRUR – Tension gripped Malerkotla town after a 13-year-old boy was burnt alive by two boys over a minor dispute. A Class VII student, the victim, Vidhu Jain, succumbed to his injuries at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital in Ludhiana. The police said the miscreants poured kerosene on the minor and set him afire.
The police have taken a schoolboy into custody for questioning in connection with the killing of Vidhu Jain.
Senior Superintendent of Police Mandip Singh Sidhu said the deceased told his father, who runs a shop, that the accused had had an argument with him over the purchase of a kite string a few days ago. Station House Officer Parminder Singh said the boy was on his way to deliver lunch box to his brother at his school when the accused waylaid him at a secluded street.
A huge police force was deployed in the town after the incident.
As a mark of protest, local shopkeepers downed their shutters and took out a rally, which culminated in a road blockade at Jarag Chowk.
Similar protests were reportedly held in nearby Dhuri town.
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