A 20-year-old man died after being pushed in front of a moving train by his roommate and his friend in Bengaluru allegedly for talking to his girlfriend over the phone, the police said on Monday, adding that they arrested the roommate and were on the lookout for the friend.
The incident took place near Byappanahalli, near the railway underpass near Pragathi Layout on Sunday. The police identified the deceased as Ismail Patawegar, a native of Vijayapura district, and the arrested accused as Puneeth and the other accused in the case as Pratap.
A police officer said, “Ismail, who is from Vijayapura, came to Bengaluru a week ago and was living in Sri Hari Gents PG, located in Banaswadi. Ismail and Puneeth were friends who worked together at a factory. However, Ismail had obtained the mobile number of a girl whom Puneeth loved and began talking to her frequently on the phone. This behaviour of Ismail angered Puneeth’s friend Pratap. Puneeth and Pratap had a fight with Ismail.”
“On Sunday, around 3 am, Puneeth and Pratap were drinking alcohol near Doddanekundi. When Ismail arrived there, another fight broke out.
Pratap and Puneeth pushed Ismail towards a moving train, and he died on the spot. Later, they placed the dead body back on the railway tracks to make it look like an accident. They later fled from the spot,” Yateesh N, Superintendent of Police, said on Monday.
The police said that Puneeth and Pratap had fabricated a story in case anyone asked them about Ismail: that he had died after being hit by a train while recording social media videos.
The incident came to light when B Lakshminarayana, owner of the paying guest facility, came to know at around 9 am on Monday about an unidentified dead body found on the railway track. Lakshminarayana identified Ismail and informed the railway police. The railway police went through CCTV footage from the area and came to know that Puneeth had been with Ismail before his death.
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A police officer said that Puneeth and Ismail stayed in the same room in the PG facility.
On being interrogated, Puneeth confessed to the killing, the police said
The Byappanahalli railway police registered a murder case and are investigating the matter further.
“The phone conversations had led to fights between Puneeth and Ismail. However, the murder was not planned, but they picked up a fight and later killed him under the influence of alcohol,” a police officer said.