Mumbai: A 35-year-old chicken shop owner was beaten to death allegedly by three of his customers following a heated argument over Rs.10 in central Mumbai, police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place last night at around 8:30 pm in Elphinstone area at the chicken centre owned by Firoz Shaikh and the arrested accused were identified as Kundan Choudhary (24), Sanjay Bharati (30) and Damodar Sahu (20). The trio worked at a vada-pav stall.

According to NM Joshi Marg police, the accused trio had gone to bring chicken from Shaikh's shop last night. They bought chicken worth Rs. 105 from him. However, an altercation broke after Shaikh supposedly took Rs.115 from the accused, but did not return Rs. 10.

"The accused then got into a heated argument with Shaikh over Rs. 10. In a fit of rage, they punched and kicked him, following which he collapsed and lost consciousness," said Ajay Pathankar, senior inspector at the police station.

The passersby caught Choudhary on the spot and alerted the police. However, Bharati and Sahu managed to escape.

"Shaikh was immediately rushed to the nearby KEM hospital, where he was declared dead. We subsequently picked up the two absconding accused from their residence in Kamgaar Nagar area," Mr Pathankar said.

The three were produced before a court on Tuesday which remanded them in police custody till January 30; he said adding that further probe was on.