Bengaluru: A 24-year-old call centre employee stabbed a shopkeeper to death after a fight over a trivial issue in Kurubarahalli in Mahalakshmi Layout police station limits early Sunday.
The deceased has been identified as Manjunath, 45, a resident of J.C. Nagar and owner of Sai Condiments in Kurubarahalli. His son, Manoj, a BBA student, also sustained stab injuries during the fight and is currently being treated at a private hospital.
The accused, Akash, is a resident of Rajajinagar and a call centre employee in Marathahalli. The police said that Akash’s finger got cut during the fight and he was also shifted to a nearby hospital.
According to the police, on Saturday night, Akash had gone to friend's house in Nagarbhavi and after partying all night, he was returning home on Sunday morning in his bike.
He reached Mahalakshmi Layout at around 5:30 am, when Manjunath had just opened his shop.
While he was cleaning its front portion, he threw water on to the road and it fell on Akash, who lost control over his vehicle and fell.
He picked up a fight with Manjunath blaming him for the fall. Soon locals gathered and started beating Akash, who also fought back.
Manjunath’s wife, Gowramma and their son Manoj also rushed to the shop. The elders in the area managed to stop the fight and asked them to leave.
However, Akash returned after 10 minutes and again picked up a fight. In a fit of anger, Akash stabbed Manjunath’s chest with a knife and also stabbed his son, Manoj who came to spot with an iron rod. When the passersby tried to snatch the knife, Akash’s finger got cut.
The Mahalakshmi Layout police rushed to the spot and shifted all three of them to the nearby hospital where Manjunath was declared brought dead.
Returned to collect helmet: Akash
The police said that Akash has claimed he was beaten by 10 to 15 people and he left for hospital. However he had to return to pick his helmet. When the crowd who saw him return they thought that he wanted to continue his fight and assaulted him.
He further stated that one of them had a knife and tried to stab him. He snatched it from him to defend himself from the crowd. As he swung it around, Manjunath got injured. He had no intention of killing him, Akash told police.
A senior officer said that they are still investigating whether Akash had brought the knife when he returned or his attackers had a knife.
Mahalakshmi Layout police have taken complaint from both parties and begun investigation.
