Mumbai: Four including two minors, kill their friend over sharing birthday food bill

Birthday celebrations took a tragic turn when an 18 year-old man was killed, allegedly by four of his friends, two of them minors, after an argument over sharing the food bill worth Rs 10,000 in suburban Govandi last week, a police official said.

Two of the accused, aged 19 and 22 and hailing from Uttar Pradesh, were arrested from Gujarat, while the minor boys surrendered to the police and were subsequently detained, he said. According to the Shivaji Nagar police official, the victim had organised a birthday party at a dhaba (roadside eatery) on May 31 and the food bill came to around Rs 10,000.

A dispute arose between the victim and his friends on sharing the bill, but the former settled the matter by paying from his pockets, he said. Later, the four accused organised another birthday party and invited their friend for the event. After feeding him cake, they attacked him with sharp weapons multiple times, leaving him dead, said the official.

The underage boys were sent to a correction home, while the other two accused were arrested under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 302 (murder), said the official.