A 15-year-old youth at Meham in Haryana's Rohtak district was shot dead by four of his classmates in the wee hours of Sunday during a jagran. This resulted in a communal clash in the area with relatives of the deceased torching the house of one of the accused and damaging three vehicles, including one belonging to the police.

While Nitin, the deceased, was a Punjabi, three out of the four accused belong to the Jat community. Nitin reportedly died trying to save his friend Ankur, who was attacked by another group living in the same area. Sunday's incident, which took place in Ward No. 4 of Meham, was a fallout of a previous scuffle between the two groups that took place on the eve of Janmashtami.

"Ankur and Nitin were called by the other group outside the jagran venue around 1.30 am. When the accused started assaulting Ankur, Nitin tried to pacify them. A scuffle ensued and one of the accused was assaulted. He left and returned with a countrymade pistol. He again asked Ankur and Nitin to meet him. Another scuffle followed, in which one of the four accused took out the weapon and fired. Nitin, who was trying to save Ankur, was hit," Rohtak SP Vivek Sharma said.

Nitin was rushed to Rohtak's Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences where he was declared dead on arrival.

The SP said: "We have arrested three of the four accused and also recovered the weapon used in the crime. The fourth accused will be arrested soon."

Following the incident, Nitin's relatives refused to get the post mortem conducted till the accused were arrested. After intervention by senior police officers, the family agreed to postmortem and later claimed the body. From the hospital, the relatives brought the body to the Meham police station. They sat at the entrance of the police station with the body and blocked the road. The mob also damaged a police vehicle.

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