The incident occurred when Santosh Vichivara was returning home from work. He got down at Dombivali railway station and took a bus to reach home.
Vichivara, along with a girl, his neighbour, was walking down to their residences at Naveed Nagar and he was showing her a mobile phone he had recently bought when the five youngsters passed a comment asking him to share the cell number with them too.
This angered Vichivara, who got into a heated argument with them.
The girl pleaded with Vichivara to calm down but he paid no heed to her advice, Inderjeet Karle of Manpada police station said.
As tempers ran high, the five boys caught hold of Vichivara one of them stabbed him repeatedly, fatally wounding him. A profusely bleeding Vichivara was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.
Police arrested the five accused yesterday and booked them on charges of murder. The four minor boys would be produced before a juvenile court, while the fifth one would be taken to a regular court for remand.
Police Inspector Karle said that the fight had taken place over a trivial issue and not over eve-teasing.
