Surat: A joke over a horse-riding video, an exchange of abuses and a midnight meeting to settle scores culminated in the brutal murder of two teenagers in the Athwalines police station area late on Sunday night.Mohammed Faizan (16) and Ajmal Sheikh (17) were stabbed to death even as they tried to defuse the confrontation between their friend and three attackers. Ironically, the person whose video sparked the quarrel was nowhere at the scene when the bloodshed unfolded.Assistant commissioner of police (ACP) VR Malhotra said the accused and the victims, all known to each other, were members of an Instagram group named ‘Salman Khan’. The dispute began when a member posted a couple of videos, including one of horse-riding. A friend of Faizan and Ajmal jokingly abused the person who posted the videos, triggering an exchange of abuses.The main accused intervened in the argument, abused the victims’ friend and threatened to kill him. As the exchange escalated, the two sides eventually agreed to meet at night to settle the matter.Around 11.45pm, one of the accused called a friend of Faizan and Ajmal and asked him to come near Fatima Kabrastan. When the victims and their friend reached the spot, the three accused were already waiting for them.The victims’ friend initiated talks to resolve the dispute, but another argument broke out. Faizan and Ajmal intervened and tried to calm everyone down. “When both victims tried to control the main accused by lightly tapping him on the head, he pulled out a butcher’s knife from his pocket and stabbed both of them,” Malhotra said.Ironically, the person whose horse riding video triggered the dispute was not even present when the murders took place.After the murders, the victims’ families alleged that the dispute had stemmed from gaming-related issues. However, police ruled out the claim after examining the Instagram group chats.“We have examined the chats in the ‘Salman Khan’ group, which establish that the quarrel arose from the videos and subsequent exchange of abuses,” Malhotra said.Police registered an FIR based on a complaint filed by the father of one of the victims and detained three minor boys on murder charges.All three accused are aged 17. One works at a mall in Surat, while the other two are labourers. Faizan and Ajmal worked at meat shops.
