Varanasi: A minor boy from Sonbhadra district died after he and his four friends were beaten with sticks and rods by guards of a private security company, at Namo Ghat, around 3 am on Sunday. Police arrested four security guards in this connection.ACP (Kotwali) Vijay Pratap Singh said that around 3 am, five boys who were roaming at Namo Ghat got into an altercation with a private security guard at Gate-2. The dispute escalated into a physical assault, in which one of the boys, a 17-year-old, suffered critical injuries. He was rushed to the hospital, where doctors declared him dead. The ACP said that after ascertaining the identity of the assailants, Adampur police arrested four guards of the company engaged for security of Namo Ghat. Further investigation continued after sending the body for postmortem, he added.The deceased boy’s friends informed police that they were all residents of Padri and Raigadh areas of Sonbhadra district and had come to Varanasi for some work, including purchasing medicines. Late Saturday night, they decided to spend time at Namo Ghat before leaving for Sonbhadra. They reached Namo Ghat around 1 am. An argument broke out between them and the security guard present at the ghat but they did not take it seriously.As they were leaving the ghat around 3 am and had reached the ramp leading to Gate-2, about 12 security guards surrounded them and started attacking them with sticks and steel rods. It led to chaos on the ramp, and even when the boys tried to escape, they were chased and beaten brutally.In the attack, one boy suffered grave injuries and fell unconscious. Despite being injured themselves, his friends managed to escape and informed police about the incident. Acting promptly, Adampur police personnel reached the spot and rushed the critically injured boy to the hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
