A 12-year-old boy was killed on Saturday by a teenager after a row broke out over a game of PUBG in the Ullal area of Mangaluru, police said on Sunday. The accused, a boy of 17-18 years, has been taken in custody. Police said the accused and the victim, Mohammed Akeef, were residents of the same locality and had befriended each other at a mobile phone shop around three months ago. The two bonded over their shared love for the online game, and used to often play against each other online, police added. However, given that Akeef would win regularly, the accused suspected that he was getting someone else to play on his behalf, and challenged him to play it in his presence, they said.
Around 9pm on Saturday night, they met near a playground for a game that Akeef ended up losing, police said. At this, the older boy accused him of cheating in earlier games, they added. A small argument ensued and Akeef allegedly pushed the other boy and threw a stone at him, N Shashi Kumar, the Mangaluru city police commissioner, said. The teenager retaliated by throwing a bigger stone at Akeef, who started to bleed and later collapsed, police said. The accused then panicked, pushed Akeef to a corner, and covered him with leaves of banana and coconut trees, they added. When Akeef didn’t return home, his family approached the police early on Sunday, and expressed suspicion about the accused, who was picked up in the morning and interrogated. After denying initially, he led the police to the spot where Akeef’s body was found at around 9am. Police have registered an FIR of murder (IPC section 302) in the case. “This incident happened not because of any great rivalry or property dispute. It was silly and over a fight in a PUBG game,” commissioner Kumar said. PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battleground, an online multiplayer game) has been banned in India but some gamers, Kumar said, may still have access to it. The popular game had over 50 million users in India alone at the time, according to an estimate.