BENGALURU: While it was a thriller Sunday for lakhs of cricket lovers who were hooked to their TV sets watching Team India winning ICC T20 world cup match against Australia, another bloodied encounter unfolded in J.C. Nagar after a 23-year-old B.Com student was allegedly chased on the streets and later stabbed to death with a surgical blade by a gang over a trivial row. Two others too sustained injuries.
The deceased, Avinash Jonathan, was the son of Shankar, a contractor, and a resident of S.K. Garden. He was a pursuing B.Com final year at Bishop’s Cotton College. His younger brother Arvind too also studies at Bishops Cotton’s.
The JC Nagar police, who have registered a case of murder and attempt to murder, have arrested John Kennedy, 24, a delivery boy of a sales agency and a resident of same locality, for the murder.
A few youngsters had put up a projector on 3rd Cross in S.K. Garden to watch ICC T20 match. During the public screening, Avinash reached the spot along with his friends around 10 pm. The crowd slowly began to swell and by 10.25 pm when the match had reached its peak, John Kennedy, the accused, who had come to watch the match with his dog, was asked to leave the place as his pet dog started barking. When Kennedy refused to leave, a heated argument ensued and a few in the audience assaulted Kennedy.
He left the spot, but returned a few minutes later with a gang, which led to a fist fight. Avinash and others were chased to another street, where Kennedy stabbed Avinash to death, while injuring two others.
Passersby rushed profusely bleeding Avinash to a nearby Jeevan Hospital, from where he was shifted to Bowring Hospital, where he died a little later. Avinash’s father Shankar told Deccan Chronicle, “My son left the house around 10 pm to watch the match with his friend. Little did we know that he will not return,” he said.
“We were at home when Avinash’s mother received a call from my younger son Arvind about a fight. He told his mother to check on Avinash as he has been severely injured and has been rushed to a private hospital. We rushed to Jeevan Hospital but by then they had referred him to Bowring hospital. By the time, we reached Bowring our son had died,” he said.
The police have arrested Kennedy and efforts are on to trace his associates.
