An eight-year-old boy was beaten to death during a fight over collecting berries in Jharkhand's Palamu district on Friday, police said.

A group of children were collecting berries under a tree when a fight broke out between two of them. The accused, a 23-year-old man, intervened and thrashed one of them to death, Inspector Ramashish Paswan of Pandu police station said.

A search was underway for the accused who went missing following the incident, he said, adding that a case was also lodged.

Police said the body of the boy was sent for post-mortem examination to the Medinirai Medical College and Hospital.

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