Plumber beaten to death with iron rod over petrol availability query at Nanded fuel station; 2 arrested

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A 35-year-old plumber was allegedly beaten to death with an iron rod by two men at a petrol pump in Nanded district on Wednesday evening following an argument over fuel availability, the police said on Thursday.The deceased, Kifayat Ali Khaja Moinuddin, was working as the chief plumber on a toilet construction project at the petrol pump in Sonkhed village of Loha tehsil. The accused, identified as Balaji Shivaji More and Pawan Choudhary, were arrested on Thursday from Nanded city. Both are residents of Sonkhed,The police said the incident occurred when More and Choudhary arrived at the petrol pump on a motorcycle and asked workers at the filling station if petrol was available. One of the workers told the duo to check with the owner in the cabin, which allegedly triggered an argument.The verbal altercation escalated into a physical assault, with More and Choudhary attacking workers Mohammad Aslam Usman and Sheikh Jani Sheikh Gulab. As the situation worsened, Kifayat Ali intervened to defuse the confrontation. The accused, however, allegedly turned on him, abused him and struck him on the head with an iron rod, causing him to collapse on the spot. Kifayat was taken to the govt hospital in Nanded, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.Nanded superintendent of police Abinash Kumar said multiple police teams were formed and the accused, who had fled, were traced and arrested. “A trap was laid based on specific intelligence, leading to their arrest within hours of the crime,” local crime branch inspector Atul Bhosale said.A murder case has been registered at the Sonkhed police station.