Rowdy thrashes friend, stabs 3 as booze banter turns near fatal in Bengaluru

A friendly banter over a glass of alcohol turned into a brawl, with a gangster stabbing three people in western Bengaluru on Tuesday, police said.

Kempegowda alias Kempa, listed as a rowdy-sheeter, sat for a drink with Ramesh, a friend he had known for many years. In the course of the chat, Ramesh is said to have enraged Kempa, resulting in a verbal spat. Kempa thrashed Ramesh black and blue, according to the police. 

Humiliated and enraged, Ramesh sent three of his friends to "deal" with Kempa. In the resulting fight, Kempa stabbed all three of them. One of them is serious, a senior police officer said. Kempa was later arrested by the Chandra Layout police.

"After arresting Kempegowda, we found out about his criminal background. We initially presumed it was a gang war. However, it appears to be a fit-of-rage incident and unrelated to any gang rivalry," he said.