Shivamogga: In a heart-wrenching incident, a 20-year-old youth was brutally hacked to death in Honnalli in the Shivamogga district, reportedly because he had a green flag in his WhatsApp DP!

The deceased, Dayanath Khan, hailing from Davangere was working in a garage in Honnalli. He had put a picture of a green flag used during Eid-ul-Fitr festivity on his DP. This led to the murder because the accused mistook it to be a Pakistani flag.

Taking note of the flag, Hemanth from T B Circle, Lohith and Sanju from Yelakkikeri, all friends of Dayanath, confronted him and had attacked him a couple of days ago. Khan was admitted to a hospital after this attack, but he remained tight-lipped about the same fearing for his life.

However, on Saturday, the group again confronted Khan and this time, hacked him to death near a bulb factory in the city.

The Honnalli police have registered a case.