22-yr-old Thane man killed by 3 friends after fight over PUBG game

The police have arrested a 19-year-old man and detained 2 minor boys for killing their 22-year-old friend. They said the 4 friends used to play PUBG game frequently and used to quarrel over some issue or the other after the game.

THANE: The Vartak Nagar police in Maharashtra’s Thane city on Tuesday arrested a 19-year-old man and detained 2 minor boys for killing their 22-year-old friend on Monday after a dispute over the online game PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds), police said.

The police have registered a case of murder under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 302 (punishment for murder) against the accused. (Representational Image)

PUBG, a China-based app, has been banned in India since September 2020. It is not sure whether the four friends were playing the banned version of the game.

The trio killed their friend on Monday around 9 pm near the Little Flower School in Vartak Nagar by stabbing him with a sharp weapon.

Locals claimed that they spotted the 4 friends near the school regularly in the last couple of days. They used to drink (liquor), play online games and get into constant fights, the locals claimed.

Senior police inspector of Vartak Nagar station, Sadashiv Nikam, said, “The deceased is identified as Sayeel Jadhav. He was killed between 9.30 pm and 10 pm on Monday. The 4 friends, including the main accused Pranav Koli, used to play PUBG game frequently and used to quarrel over some issue or the other after the game.”

The victim died on the spot and his body was sent for postmortem.

“The main accused was arrested and the two minor boys were detained on Tuesday and a case of murder under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 302 (punishment for murder) was registered against them,” said Nikam.

A local resident, Roal Saldanha, 33, said, “I saw the 4 (friends) fighting when I was passing by. Two of them were barely out of school. I yelled at them and told them to stop fighting. I later came to know about the murder and was shocked.”

Bahadur Singh, who works as a security guard in the area, added, “Since the last 4 to 5 days, there were constant fights between the 4 youngsters, it was mainly over a girl. I too have tried to stop them but they regularly consumed alcohol and indulged in fights in the same area. I am not sure what Monday’s fight was but the 4 had been at it for a few days.”