The Ashoknagar police on Monday arrested seven men on the charge of killing Harish Manjunath, a civil contractor after he allegedly objected to a group smoking when a religious procession was passing through B Street in Shantinagar early on Sunday.
According to the police, Harish had objected to a group smoking outside his house and he had forced them to clear the spot. This resulted in a quarrel between them.
Assaulted with weapons
They allegedly returned to his house and assaulted him with weapons leading to his death.
The arrested have been identified as James Kumar, Vikram, Vijay, Kiran, Jerald, Vijay alias Kariya Vijay, and Venkatesh. They are all residents of L.R. Nagar and Vinayaknagar in Anepalya.
Harish was taken to the hospital by his family but was declared dead on arrival.
The police first managed to catch James Kumar, who then led them to the others.