Man shot friend dead, police suspect video game involvement

This picture has been used for representational purposes.

Chennai: A 20-year-old man shot his friend dead at Kelambakkam in Tamil Nadu's Kancheepuram district on Tuesday. According to a report in The Times of India, the police suspects he was shot over a video game as the duo were said to be video game addicts.

The incident happened when the deceased, identified as Mukesh (19), a second-year student at a private polytechnic college, went to his Vijay's house in the same town. Vijay's brother Udaya was sitting outside the house when Mukesh entered to meet the former and his parents were not at home at that time. Udaya told the police that after few minutes, he heard a gunshot and went inside the house to find Mukesh, shot in the head, lying in a pool of blood and Vijay holding a gun. Before Udaya tried to stop him, Vijay fled the house with his phone and the gun. Neighbours then rushed Mukesh to a nearby hospital after which he was referred to another hospital, but then he was declared brought dead by the doctors.

The police have not been able to ascertain how Vijay, who works with an app-based food delivery company, got the gun. According to the accused's relatives, they had spotted Vijay going to a local market in Pallavaram where they suspect he got the weapon from one of the migrant workers staying in the area. Moreover, the police said that Vijay and Mukesh were seen together playing video games and were often heard talking about PUBG and some 'shark', referring to the Blue Whale Challenge. The police also said that they are yet to ascertain if the killing was a part of a 'challenge' they took up.

According to the police, Vijay is wanted in two cases of robbery in another town. The police have said to have detained his brothers Udaya and AjithKumar and have deployed three teams to nab the accused.

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