Chaudhry and his elder brother Dinesh run a grocery store at Moreshwar Chawl in Mankhurd which also has a PCO attached to it.

“Around 8.30 pm on Sunday, we both were at our shop when a man came out of a liquor shop across the road and approached us. He gave a one rupee coin and made a call from the PCO, and then all of a sudden abused us saying that we had cheated him by taking a two rupee coin for one call. Since he looked drunk we avoided any trouble and turned him away. He left after warning us about the ‘consequences’ of our action,” said Dinesh.

He added, “We live just above the shop and go home directly after shutting it. However, when went out to buy some goods for the shop, and my brother was downing the shutter, the accused came back and stabbed him thrice on his shoulder, back and stomach. On hearing his cries, our neighbours rushed to his help and took him to the hospital,” said Dinesh.

Santosh Bhise, one of the neighbours who rushed to help the victim, said, “I stay opposite to their shop and when I heard Chaudhry yelling ‘dada, someone is trying to stab me’, I rushed downstairs and spotted him in a pool of blood. My brother and I took him to the Shatabdi Hospital, from where he was shifted to the Sion Hospital.”