Three persons were arrested for allegedly killing a man who had broken into a restaurant and stolen their mobile phones in Bhiwandi town of Thane district, police said on Thursday.
The victim Shamshiddin Asif Shaikh and his accomplice broke into a restaurant in Balaji Nagar in the early hours of Wednesday and stole mobile phones of workers sleeping in the premises, senior inspector Maloji Shinde of Narpoli police station said.
On hearing some noise, the workers woke up and demanded their phones back, and allegedly attacked the victim with sharp weapons after he refused to return the stolen items, he said.
While the victim died on the spot, his accomplice fled the scene, the official said, adding that the accused Ashraf Idris Khan (25), Suresh Jaikisan Verma (28) and Ajay Ambika Prasad Verma (30) were subsequently arrested.
A case under relevant sections of the IPC has been registered in this regard and further probe is underway, the official said.