New Delhi:  In what can be seen as a return to racism, Shaloni, a 30-year-old man from Manipur who lived in Kotla Mubarakpur,  was allegedly beaten to death by a group of five or six men in the heart of Delhi late last night.  He was employed at a Business Processing Outsourcing company or BPO.

It is learnt that he got into an altercation with the group of men who had driven up in a white car at a daily needs store in Kotla Mubarakpur.

Police  said they received a call about the quarrel at about 2:30 am. When the police reached the spot, they found Shaloni had been beaten up. They took the injured man to the trauma centre at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences or AIIMS, where he was declared dead.

A case of murder has been registered and that they have identified suspects.  

The death in similar circumstances of Nido Tania, a student from Arunachal Pradesh, early this year had led to street protests and a national debate on discrimination against Indians from the North East.

Nido, 20, was beaten with iron rods and sticks by a group of men after he had an altercation with a shopkeeper and others in Lajpat Nagar market, not far from Kotla Mubarakpur, in January.

Politicians from all parties had condemned the murderous act and  had vowed to work with activists and students from the North East to address their recurring concerns of being racially targeted in Delhi and other cities.