A law student's stomach was split open and two fingers were chopped off after an argument with a medical shop owner turned violent in Kanpur, police said on Sunday.
Three persons, including the shop owner, have been arrested for the attack that took place in the Rawatpur area around 9 pm on Saturday. A search is underway for a fourth accused, they said.
Abhijeet Singh Chandel (22), a first-year LLB student and a resident of Keshavpuram, went to the pharmacy near his house. He had an argument with the shop owner, Amar Singh Chauhan, over the price of a medicine, according to police.
Chauhan, his brother Vijay Singh and their two aides -- Prince Srivastava and Nikhil Tiwari -- allegedly launched a violent attack on Chandel, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Kalyanpur) Ranjeet Kumar said.
Armed with a chopper, the accused struck the student on the head and stomach, leaving him grievously injured. His stomach was split open and two fingers were chopped off during the attack, the ACP said.
Soaked in blood, Chandel collapsed on the road while the attackers fled. Locals rushed to his aid.
Chandel's family tied his intestines with a cloth before rushing him to a hospital. The family took him to four hospitals, but all of them refused to admit him due to his critical condition, said an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The youth was admitted to Regency Hospital, where doctors performed a two-hour surgery. He received 14 stitches on the head, the ACP said.
The victim's mother, Neelam Singh Chandel, claimed that the accused were "well connected with police" and managed to get a false extortion case registered against her and her injured son the same night.
"Instead of arresting those behind the murderous attack, police booked my son, who is fighting for his life," she said.
ACP Kumar said Chauhan, Singh and Tiwari have been arrested on charges of attempt to murder.
The fourth accused, Prince Srivastava, is on the run and efforts are on to trace him.
Kumar said an extortion FIR was registered against Chandel based on Chauhan's complaint, but a fresh case was registered once the truth about the brutal assault emerged.