A man has been arrested for allegedly killing a friend as the latter tried to blackmail him over the theft of a mobile phone, city police said.

The incident took place at CPWD godown in Antop Hill area early Saturday morning, said a police official. The half-burnt body of Abdul Sayyad (29), who worked with a civil contractor, was found, and initially, it was suspected that he was a pavement dweller whose bed sheet caught fire accidentally when he was drunk. But CCTV footage of the area showed there was another person with him and autopsy showed that his head had been smashed. Following the questioning of Sayyad's employer, the man seen in the CCTV footage was identified as Ashkuddin Shaikh (27), a house painter.