The deceased have been identified as Ajay (32), Vijay (37), Ramu (27), Rajesh (38), all residents of Uttar Pradesh

Chilling details have emerged in the double murder case in Uttar Pradesh’s Budaun. The police have revealed how a barber entered the house of an acquaintance and killed his two children .

Sajid ran a barber shop opposite the victims’ house and knew their father Vinod, police said. He had visited their house on Tuesday evening to borrow Rs 5,000, but Vinod was not home. While his wife stepped away to make tea, he attacked her three children.

The double murders sparked tension in the city on Tuesday after locals set the barber’s shop on fire.

According to the family, Sajid told Vinod’s wife Sangeeta that his pregnant wife was in the hospital and he needed Rs 5,000 for her treatment. Sangeeta phoned her husband Vinod who told her to loan him the money.

While she was in the kitchen, Sajid asked her son Aayush to show him his mother’s beauty parlour upstairs. The 11-year-old led him to the first floor and then the second floor. On the second floor, Sajid switched off the lights and attacked Aayush with a knife.

While he was slitting Aayush’s throat, his brother Ahaan (6) walked in and saw the attack. Sajid caught Ahaan and killed him and also attacked their brother Piyush but the seven-year-old was able to run away and hide. While Aayush and Ahaan died, Piyush sustained minor injuries.

“I had no dispute with him. I was away from home for work when he came to the house. He asked for Rs 5,000 and my wife gave him the money. One of my sons was able to escape his attack and warn his mother,” Vinod told NDTV.

The family told the police that Sajid fled the scene with his brother Javed who was waiting outside the house on his bike. The victims’ family allege both Sajid and Javed were involved in the crime.

When Sajid was caught nearby, he tried to attack the police and was killed in an encounter. An inspector was also shot during the encounter and has been admitted to a hospital.

Police are still searching for Javed but an FIR has been registered against both brothers. The motive behind the murders is not known yet.

Amid an outcry over its announcement of a ‘pure veg’ fleet, Zomato has said all its delivery partners will continue to wear red, rolling back its decision to introduce a green uniform for those delivering food to vegetarians under the new service.

“While we are going to continue to have a fleet for vegetarians, we have decided to remove the on-ground segregation of this fleet on the ground using the colour green. All our riders – both our regular fleet, and our fleet for vegetarians, will wear the colour red,” Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal tweeted this morning.

Mr Goyal explained that customers who opt for the ‘pure veg’ option can see on the mobile app that their orders are being delivered by the ‘veg only’ fleet.

“This will ensure that our red uniform delivery partners are not incorrectly associated with non-veg food, and blocked by any RWAs or societies during any special days… our rider’s physical safety is of paramount importance to us,” he added.

“We now realise that even some of our customers could get into trouble with their landlords, and that would not be a nice if that happened because of us,” Mr Goyal said in the post.

He also thanked the social media for raising these points following the announcement of the “pure veg” service yesterday.

“You made us understand the unintended consequences of this rollout. All the love, and all the brickbats were all so useful – and helped us get to this optimal point. We are always listening, without unnecessary ego, or pride. We look forward to continue serving you,” he said.

The announcement of the “pure veg” service and the separate colour code sparked a massive row on social media yesterday, with some users calling it a form of modern-day casteism. Others had pointed out how this may lead to a ban on the entry of red-uniform delivery partners in apartment complexes where vegetarians are in a majority. This, they said, would lead to inconvenience for those ordering non-vegetarian food. Some users also pointed out that this may lead to problems for tenants ordering non-vegetarian food, particularly in the localities where it is frowned upon.

Mr Goyal had yesterday said they had decided to introduce the “pure veg” service on the basis of feedback from customers. “India has the largest percentage of vegetarians in the world, and one of the most important feedback we’ve gotten from them is that they are very particular about how their food is cooked, and how their food is handled,” he had said. He had said that for this service, Zomato will rope in restaurants serving only vegetarian food and the delivery partners in this service will not handle any non-vegetarian packets.

“But why did we need to separate the fleets? Because despite everyone’s best efforts, sometimes the food spills into the delivery boxes. In those cases, the smell of the previous order travels to the next order, and may lead to the next order smelling of the previous order. For this reason, we had to separate the fleet for veg orders,” the Zomato CEO explained. He stressed that the “pure veg” service strictly serves a dietary preference, irrespective of a person’s religion or caste. Mr Goyal had, however, said they will “roll back” the service “in a heartbeat” if there are negative social repercussions.

“We understand our social responsibility due to this change, and we will not back down from solving it when the need arises. Please note that this Pure Veg Mode, or the Pure Veg Fleet doesn’t serve or alienate any religious, or political preference,” he had said.