Days after he was thrashed allegedly by a history sheeter, a 23-year-old man from Hyderabad died while undergoing treatment at a hospital in the city on Saturday. The deceased has been identified as Sai Sagar, while the accused, Junaid, is reportedly a history-sheeter from Miryalguda with16 criminal cases against him.

The police said that the incident took place on June 13, when Sai and two others were celebrating the birthday of one of their friends. As they were returning home, they saw Junaid and his girlfriend allegedly consuming liqour and displaying their affection publicly on Necklace Road.

The police suspect that Sai may have passed a comment or watched them, which irked Junaid, who allegedly began abusing the trio before picking up a stone.

"Junaid abused them following which they got into an altercation. In a fit of rage, Junaid attacked Sai Sagar with a stone resulting in a head injury,” Ramgopalpet Inspector T Chanchala Babu was quoted as saying. 

A police patrol team which was nearby was alerted and rushed to the spot. Taking Junaid into custody, the police also ensured that Sai was rushed to a hospital nearby. He was later shifted to the state-run Osmania General Hospital (OGH) for better treatment as the head injury was serious. However, he succumbed to his injuries on Saturday.

Even as Sai's family members staged a dharna at OGH after his death, the police sent the body to the mortuary on the premises for an autopsy and assured protesters of strict action against Junaid, who has already been taken into custody.

A case which was registered by the Ramgopalpet police under Section 307 (Attempt to murder) of the IPC will now be changed to Section 302 (Murder), investigation officials said.

Junaid was presented in front of a local court and sent to judicial remand.