Police in India have arrested two gym trainers on suspicion of killing a man during a violent altercation inside their nutrition supplement shop.
Investigators said Gopinath Varpe, 35, entered the Protein Puzzle Shop in Charholi near Pune city in Maharashtra state on Wednesday afternoon and started verbally abusing Pranjal Taware, 22, before causing a disturbance.
The argument escalated into a fight during which Ms Taware and shop co-owner Yash Patole, 25, allegedly struck Varpe multiple times on the head and body with metal rods.
Varpe was taken to hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.
Assistant police commissioner Vishal Hire told the Times of India that Varpe knew the woman and that he had gone to the shop and abused her the previous day as well.
An unnamed police officer told the newspaper that Varpe had started harassing Taware after she stopped talking to him about eight months ago.
“This incident happened near Charholi Phata. The deceased started chaos and abused the accused duo by coming to their shop in the afternoon,” deputy commissioner of police Bapu Bangar said. “They murdered Varpe with an iron rod, hitting him on the head and body.”
The suspects fled after the incident but later surrendered to police, Mr Bangar said. “Dighi police are registering a case of murder and common intention. We are investigating the matter further,” he was quoted as saying by the Free Press Journal.
The duo were charged with murder under India’s newly introduced criminal code Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita.
