Youth fleeing after snatching smartphone killed in road mishap

A two-wheeler-borne 19-year old man, fleeing after allegedly snatching a mobile phone of a pedestrian, died in a mishap involving a truck and its driver "beaten to death" by his two enraged accomplices here, police said Friday.

The bizarre incident unfolded when the trio snatched a smartphone from a man who was speaking to someone on a highway off Madhavaram in north Chennai and sped away in their motorcycle late Thursday night.

However, a short distance away, the motorcycle grazed the side of a cargo truck, resulting in all the three riders falling down.

While one of them came under the wheels of the truck and was crushed to death, the other two escaped with minor injuries, police said.

Enraged over the death of their friend, the two men allegedly thrashed the driver who died on the spot. They later fled from the spot.

On being alert about the incident by some passersby, police later arrested the two persons.

They were produced before a court which remanded them to judicial custody.