Salon owner, aides held for murdering youth over customers

Pune: Three people, including the owner of a salon in Bibvewadi, were arrested on Friday after a 20-year-old youth was murdered on Thursday afternoon over the suspicion of coaxing customers of the prime suspect's establishment to a new facility.The victim was identified as Mohammed Shami Qureshi of Bibvewadi. He hailed from Prayagraj district in Uttar Pradesh. His brother, Mohammed Salman Qureshi (18), lodged a complaint with the police.An officer from the Bibvewadi police said the victim worked in the salon of the prime accused in Katraj for the past two years. "In Jan, he left the job and started operating a salon on rent in Bibvewadi since Feb 9," the officer said.Qureshi stated in the police complaint that customers from the Katraj salon started going to his bother's establishment in Bibvewadi. "The accused was furious over it. He had heated arguments with the victim on the issue," the police officer said.He said the prime accused, along with his two accomplices, went to the victim's salon around 12.30pm on Thursday and started arguing with the latter again. The victim's brother was also present there."When the victim told the Katraj salon's owner that the customers were coming to him because of his work, the main suspect slapped him. The victim hit him back, too," the officer said.Furious over this, the trio allegedly beat up the victim. The owner of the rented property from where the victim's salon operated alerted the police control room. "Our team reached there immediately and took the trio into custody. The complainant took his brother to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared the latter dead," he said.The officer said the trio were charged under Section 103 (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).