Painter killed in Bengaluru over earphone fight, 2 arrested

BENGALURU: A fight over sharing an earphone during New Year celebrations ended in the murder of a 27-year-old painter at Doddanamangala in southeast Bengaluru late Saturday night.
The victim is Karteek Kumar from Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu. His colleagues, Rajaneesh and Ravi, have been arrested for the murder in a newly constructed building, and two others are at large.
According to police, Karteek and four other workers were painting the building and lived on the premises.On December 31 night, all five partied and consumed alcohol. It was also Rajaneesh's birthday that day.
Rajaneesh had the habit of listening to music while going to sleep. That night, his earphones were missing and on searching, he found that Karteek was listening to music using Rajaneesh's earphones. A fight broke out, and Rajaneesh and the other three beat Karteek with hands and wooden logs. A mason, who was sleeping in the same building, pacified them. A little later, they all went to sleep, police said.
Karteek, however, did not wake up on Sunday morning and was shifted to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead, police said.