Mobile phone prank turns fatal, friend stabs to death Bengaluru housekeeping worker

During the quarrel, the accused allegedly went into the kitchen, picked up a knife, and stabbed the victim in the abdomen. (Representative Image)A prank involving a hidden mobile phone turned fatal after a housekeeping worker in Bengaluru was allegedly stabbed to death by his friend. A First Information Report (FIR) in the case was registered at the Marathahalli police station under Sections 103 (murder) and 311 (using any deadly weapon to cause grievous injury or death while committing robbery) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).The police have arrested the accused, identified as Ramu Basappa Pattad, 35, hailing from Kuruvinakoppa village of Kalaghatagi taluk in Dharwad district. The victim, Parashuram Mangalagatti, was staying in a rented house near the BESCOM office on Chowdeshwari Road in Marathahalli along with friends Hanumanth Doddamani and the accused. All of them worked as housekeeping staff at KIMS Hospital in Mahadevapura. The police said the incident occurred on the morning of May 9 at around 8.30 am when the accused allegedly hid Mangalagatti’s mobile phone as a prank and refused to return it despite repeated requests. “What started as a playful argument over the mobile phone escalated into a physical altercation between the two,” a police officer said. During the quarrel, the accused allegedly went into the kitchen, picked up a knife, and stabbed Mangalagatti in the abdomen before fleeing from the house with the victim’s mobile phone, the police said.Story continues below this ad The injured man was initially treated at a hospital in Madiwala and later shifted to KIMS Hospital. Due to mounting medical expenses, family members later shifted him to KMC Hospital on May 10 for advanced treatment. However, he succumbed to severe internal injuries and blood loss at around 12.30 pm on May 11. A police officer said the accused allegedly told them during interrogation that he believed he had caused only a minor injury and did not realise the victim had died. “He reportedly returned to the rented room two days later, expecting the victim to come back looking for the phone, but found the house locked. Based on technical and local inputs, the accused was traced and arrested on May 14,” the officer added.