Love rivalry leaves two teenagers dead

A violent group clash over a love rivalry left two teenage boys dead at Goraguntepalya near RMC Yard on Saturday evening, police said. 

Kishore, 19, a resident of Krishnananda Nagar and a first year BCom student, clashed with his friend-turned-love rival, Keshava Murthy, outside Goraguntepalya’s Hitech Cyber Café where the latter was employed. Kishore and his friends — Shiva, Manja, Harish, and Renuka — descended on 1st Block, 4th Cross, Goraguntepalya, armed with lethal weapons.  

Kishore called Murthy out of the cyber café and invited him for a fight. As Murthy came out, Kishore and his gang of friends hit him on the head with a rod. As a profusely bleeding Murthy collapsed and cried for help, his friends in the café — Dilip, Kiran, and Manju — rushed out only to find him lying in a pool of blood. By this time, the assailants had fled the spot.  The situation infuriated Murthy’s friends who chased the assailants down and managed to catch Kishore. In the ensuing brawl, Kishore too was stabbed to death. Murthy succumbed on the way to a private hospital. Kishore was taken to M S Ramaiah Hospital, but could not be saved. The duo was making advances to a 15-year-old schoolgirl who lives in the neighbourhood. However, it is not known if the girl had accepted either of the victims’ advances. 

The two young men were friends, but the love affair distanced them. Their rivalry touched its peak when Kishore decided to eliminate Murthy.  The duo’s respective friends ran away after the clash, but police apprehended them within four hours. The incident left the residents of Goraguntepalya in a state of shock and fear. Blood stains were splattered over 100 metres in the area. Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Pranav Mohanty and other police officers rushed to the spot and conducted an inquiry. The RMC Yard police have registered a case of murder.