An e-rickshaw driver was hacked to death allegedly by two passengers on Tuesday night at Malda's Belbari Ghat area under the Englishbazar police station limits.
Deceased driver Kajal Ghosh, 65, was from Ramkeli, a locality on the outskirts of Malda town.
Ghosh, who had ferried passengers Shyamal Mandal and Bimal Mandal in his vehicle, asked them for ₹20 as fare, which resulted in a heated altercation. The duo, possibly drunk, refused to pay him and attacked him with sharp weapons, said a police officer.
Ghosh's screams alerted bystanders, who rushed him to the Malda Medical College & Hospital where he died.
The police are searching for the attackers.
Cough syrup bottles
The Special Task Force (STF) of the state police and Gazole police in Malda jointly intercepted an SUV and a container truck from Deotala on Tuesday night and seized 20,000 bottles of cough syrup from the truck. Four persons have been arrested in the case.