Surat: In a broad daylight murder, a 32-year-old property dealer was allegedly hacked to death by six men outside Shree Krishna AC Mall in the Dindoli area on Sunday.The victim, Ashish Singh, had gone with his friends to donate blood at a camp organized at Nilgiri Circle Ground to mark the birthday of Union minister C R Patil. Singh and his friends had first gathered at his office in the mall and parked their bikes there before heading to the blood donation camp in two cars.Police said that when the group returned to the mall around 3pm, six men arrived on two mopeds and suddenly attacked Singh with knives and iron rods. His friends tried to intervene, but the assailants repeatedly struck Singh before fleeing the spot.Singh was rushed to Baba Memorial Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.Police said Singh, who ran a property dealing business, had earlier been booked in cases of abduction and voluntarily causing hurt at Puna and Godadara police stations.Investigators said Singh had recently been involved in a dispute with one of the accused, Abhishek Rajput, following which a complaint had been lodged at Puna police station. Police suspect the attack was carried out over that rivalry.Based on a complaint filed by Singh’s brother, Dindoli police registered a case against Rajput, Gopal, Satish Maratha, Ganesh Pandey and two other unidentified persons. Police have booked the accused and launched a search operation.
