A 40-year-old food stall owner sustained critical burns while two others were seriously injured in an alleged attack by a group of people in Hanuman Tekadi area of Thane’s Ulhasnagar township, the police said on Wednesday.
The victims – Ramprasad Gupta (owner of a roadside egg stall) and Babu Kulal (62) and his son Santosh (33) ran a grocery shop – were attacked by 7-8 people at around 10:30 pm on a suspicion that they had complained to police about them, said senior inspector KD Jadhav of Ulhasnagar police.
The assailants then alleged caught hold of Gupta and set him on fire after dousing him with petrol.
The three victims were later admitted to hospital where Gupta’s condition is stated to be critical, he added.
One of the attackers was identified as Yogesh Shinde, and police are trying to track down the group, added sub-inspector ML Pandav.
A case has been registered under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house, etc), 143, 147 (rioting), 148, 149 and 427 of IPC and also under the relevant provisions of the Arms Act and Bombay Police Act, Pandav said.
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