An altercation over a petty issue of a brick falling on a tray of eggs in a shop led to a fight between two groups, during which a 16-year-old boy was allegedly stabbed to death in front of his family members in south Delhi’s Sangam Vihar on Tuesday.

The alleged attacker, 22-year-old Farookh (who goes by his first name) fled the crime scene after stabbing the teenager, but was caught later in the evening. His interrogation led to the recovery of the bloodstained dagger that he had used to kill the teenager, deputy commissioner of police (south) Atul Kumar Thakur said.

The teenager lived with his parents and four siblings in Sangam Vihar. His father is an electrician. Since their house was being renovated, the family had rented a house in the neighbourhood.

On Tuesday around 9am, the teenager, along with his father and brother, was stacking bricks outside a shop selling eggs, which belonged to their neighbour Taj Mohammad. One brick slipped from teen’s brother’s hand and fell on a tray of eggs, breaking five-six of them.

“An argument started between the two groups, but it was resolved after some neighbours intervened and the teenager’s father said that he would compensate for the loss,” a police officer, who did not want to be named, said, quoting the First Information Report (FIR) registered on the complaint of the deceased teenager’s brother.

Minutes later, the officer said, Mohammad’s son Farookh came by and started quarrelling with the teenager’s brother. The teenager intervened and pulled his brother away. That enraged Farookh, who took out a dagger and repeatedly stabbed the teenager before fleeing the crime scene, the officer added.

The injured teenager was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. The police has registered a case of murder. “Our teams scanned CCTV cameras in the area and caught the suspect and recovered the bloodstained dagger,” the DCP added.