JAMMU: A 35-year-old man paid with his life, allegedly for smearing cake on his friend’s face on the latter’s birthday in Jammu’s Janipur area late Thursday.Police said Friday they arrested the prime accused, Neeraj, whose birthday the group was celebrating, and his brother, Rishu.

The siblings are in their twenties, cops said.Around 9pm Thursday, policemen posted at GMC Jammu informed Janipur PS that a critically injured man, Pawan Nair, had been declared dead after being brought to the hospital by three friends, a police spokesperson said.

A preliminary inquiry revealed that the group was celebrating Neeraj’s birthday on the roadside near Lower Roop Nagar with friends when Nair allegedly smeared cake on Neeraj’s face, triggering a verbal spat.

Though their friends John Sotra, Gaurav Singh, and Sugandh Bhatti tried pacifying the arguers, Neeraj, in a fit of rage, allegedly stabbed Nair on the neck with a ‘khokhri’ (sharp-edged weapon), injuring him grievously, the spokesperson said.Sotra, Singh, and Bhatti rushed Nair to GMC Jammu, but he couldn’t be saved. Janipur PS subsequently registered an FIR under BNS 103(1), launched a probe, and arrested the accused brothers. Police sent the body for post-mortem. Further investigation was underway, the spokesperson said.