Auto drivers 'kill' friend for refusing to buy ciggies

Three auto-rickshaw drivers are accused of fatally stabbing a 30-year-old co-professional as he refused to buy them cigarettes at Old Bagalur, northeast Bengaluru, on Saturday night.

Muzammil, Wahid, Tabarak and Mohammad Ali, all residents of Bagalur Layout, were chattering away at Old Bagalur around 1.30 am. Ali was asked to buy cigarettes from a pushcart, but he refused. The three men got enraged and picked a fight with him.

When Ali retaliated, they ended up stabbing him to death. They later drove off in their auto-rickshaws. The inspector of the jurisdictional KG Halli police station said they had definite leads about the suspects and would hunt them down soon.