Mangaluru youth’s death treated as murder, police probe

Mangaluru: Police are investigating the death of 23-year-old Mohammed Runaid as a murder after the incident, initially believed to be a road accident, raised suspicion of foul play, Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police Dr Arun K said.

Runaid and his friend Mohammed Afraz, also 23, were travelling on a scooter on October 19 when they sustained serious injuries near an Indian Oil petrol pump at Boliyar. Both later died at separate hospitals.

According to the FIR and preliminary police findings, the two men had allegedly been involved in an altercation with a pickup vehicle driver, identified as Hafeez, near Rantadka Cross earlier that day. Police suspect the dispute escalated and that the pickup vehicle followed the scooter.

The families subsequently found the scooter badly damaged near a severed electric pole.

Police have registered a murder case and are investigating the sequence of events and the circumstances surrounding the two deaths, the SP said.