Vellore: A class 8 student was murdered, allegedly by two of his schoolmates after a dispute over a mobile phone near Labbakrishnapuram in Vellore district on Wednesday evening.
The deceased boy was identified as P. Santosh (13) who studies at the Poigai government boys higher secondary school. His parents approached the school authorities after Santosh did not return home after school on Wednesday.
An internal inquiry revealed that Santosh left school with two boys - one of them his classmate and another, a class 9 student.
One of the boys had told the school authorities that they beat up Santosh and left him near Sozhambur lake. Police were informed and a team rushed to the scene on Thursday morning to find the boy dead.
Police investigations revealed that Santosh, along with the two boys went near the Sozhambur lake on Kothamangalam road near Labbakrishnapuram to settle a dispute amongst them. “The boy (Santosh) had sold a mobile phone to one of his friends. However, the other boy failed to pay the amount, about '6000 and they had a dispute over this. To settle the issue, the boys met when the murder happened,” a police officer said.
A verbal duel had escalated into a brawl and the two boys ganged up and beat Santosh with a wooden log resulting in grievous head injuries for the teenager. Alarmed, the boys fled the scene, leaving him to die, police said.
Latheri police secured the boy's body and moved it to the Government Vellore Medical College hospital for autopsy.
Police have secured one of the boys and have launched a hunt for another involved in the murder.
