Second stabbing incident in less than a week

Crime: A 19-year-old youth is being treated at the JDWNRH after he was stabbed twice in his back by a gang below Druk school in Thimphu on June 30, two days after a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death below Changangkha Lhakhang.

The incident happened in the afternoon when the victim, a private school student, and his friend met a group of youth. The victim was immediately taken to hospital and is reportedly in stable condition.

According to the victim and his friend’s statement to police, a group of about five men who had their faces covered, started chasing the duo, stabbed the victim and then fled the scene.

“The victim doesn’t know why and who stabbed him,” a police official said.

Thimphu police have identified two suspects involved in the case. However, police are yet to make any arrests.

Meanwhile, On June 28, police arrested six men aged between 21 and 23, suspected to have been involved in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old boy.

The incident happened the day before, at around 8pm when the victim was trying to stop an alleged altercation between two groups at Changangkha in Thimphu.

The victim, a student in Punakha was stabbed in his lower back.

The police official said that the victim was declared dead when he was brought to the referral hospital.

Upon investigation, police learnt from eyewitnesses that the suspects used a white Maruti van to flee the scene.

Police deployed their men to various areas in search of the suspects during which a police official was injured. The official was near the IT park in Babesa when the suspect who was drunk created a problem in a shop. The official took the suspect, a corporate employee outside the shop where the suspect hit the official on the head with a blunt object.

The official is in critical condition and undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit of the referral hospital in Thimphu.

“We first located the vehicle and arrested a college dropout,” a police official said.

Following which, five suspects were arrested from a hotel in Changzamtok. The men were in possession of 68 capsules of spasmoproxyvon and one hand-made hookah. The knife was also recovered from the hotel. All the suspects are school dropouts except for one.

The college dropout confessed to police that some boys in the victim’s group bullied him while the victim’s friends claim that they don’t know the suspects.

The police official said that the main suspect, a 21-year-old was identified and he confessed to the crime.

“We cannot say that all six are involved in the stabbing,” the police official said. “We are investigating the case and those who are not involved will be ruled-out.”

The police official said that there will be strict monitoring and patrolling in the city and urged everyone especially youth to refrain from carrying weapons like knives.

“Some people carry a knife and say that it’s for self-defence which actually is not allowed,” the official said. “Having a knife with oneself provokes him or her to use the weapon when disagreements arise.”

The police official also requested all parents to keep track of their children and if possible, not to let children roam late at night in town.

Dechen Tshomo

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