BENGALURU: A 20-year-old youth was allegedly murdered by his two friends, who pushed him in front of a moving train near Doddanekundi in Byappanahalli railway police limits on Sunday morning.
The deceased has been identified as Ismail Patawegar of Vijayapura. The accused have been identified as Puneeth and Pratap, both hailing from Chitradurga. Police have arrested Puneeth and a search is on for Pratap.
All three lived in a paying guest accommodation at Byappanahalli and worked as drivers for a private company.
Puneeth recently introduced Ismail to his girlfriend. Ismail, however, took her number and started speaking to her. This angered Puneeth.
After a late night booze party, a quarrel broke out between Puneeth and Ismail near the railway tracks at Doddanekundi around 3.30 am. Puneeth and Pratap allegedly pushed Ismail in front of the approaching train. Ismail died on the spot. Later, they placed Ismail’s body on the tracks to make it look like an accident.
Railway staff, who saw the body on Sunday morning, alerted the police.
The police said preliminary investigations revealed that it was not an accident as bloodstains were found 10 feet away from the tracks. Also, the victim’s last phone call was to one of the accused.
Puneeth, who was taken into custody, confessed to killing Ismail as he was texting and speaking with his girlfriend. Puneeth also confessed that he and Pratap had planned to tell police that Ismail was hit by a train while making a reel for social media.
The police are also probing an allegation that Ismail tried to kill Puneeth and Pratap.