Chandigarh, Jan 14 (IANS) A late night brawl outside a 24-hour eatery in the heart of Chandigarh Friday led to the death of a youth, who had recently returned after studying abroad. Police Saturday arrested seven people for the murder.

Police officials said the victim, Harminder Singh, who had come to the Aroma hotel complex in Sector 22 in the early hours to have an ice-cream sundae, got into a brawl with a group of youths after he collided with one of them, a police official investigating the incident said.

The group, led by a local hotelier, Harsimrat Singh, also went inside the eatery to have ice-cream. When they returned, both sides got into a scuffle.

Eyewitnesses told the police that the victim, who seemed drunk, took out an iron rod from his car and ran after the group. However, he was overpowered by them and thrashed badly. The group then fled the spot after leaving him in a pool of blood.

Police arrived later at the scene despite a police control room vehicle being stationed near the eatery, which is known for late-night drunken brawls, and took the victim to a local government hospital where doctors declared him dead.

Following investigation and CCTV footage, police Saturday arrested seven people, including the young hotelier.

“Besides the hotelier, four are his staff members and two others are his friends. They have all been arrested and charged with murder,” a police officer said here.

A local court, where the accused were produced Saturday, remanded them to two-day police custody.

Police said the victim had returned to India a few months back after doing his MBA from Ireland.

The accused hotelier had also returned from Canada, where he lived, some time back.