A youth allegedly killed a friend by stabbing him in the neck with a pair of scissors after being asked by the victim to let go of another youth who he was assaulting following a row over playing music.
The brawl and the subsequent assault took place at Sukantanagar, off the Chingrighata crossing on EM Bypass, after the immersion of a Jagaddhatri idol early on Sunday.
The alleged attacker was critically injured after being assaulted by Sukantanagar residents.
Saheb Ali Sardar, the victim, tried to stop a fight between his friend Bittu and Mukhtar Ali over playing music after immersion, a senior officer in the Bidhannagar commissionerate said.
"Bittu wanted to connect his phone to the speaker set in front of the puja pandal, but Mukhtar objected. Bittu lost his cool and lunged at Mukhtar with a pair of scissors he was carrying," the officer said.
He slashed Mukhtar multiple times on the arms and torso with the scissors.
Seeing this, Saheb, who worked as a delivery boy for food delivery platforms, rushed to Mukhtar’s help and tried to separate him from Bittu.
“Bittu then turned his ire on Saheb and stabbed him in the neck multiple times with the same pair of scissors. A profusely bleeding Saheb slumped to the ground near the pandal. Seeing this, Bittu ran away," said the officer.
Residents and members of the club that organised the puja took Saheb to Salt Lake Sub-divisional Hospital, where he was declared dead.
As news of Saheb’s death reached Sukantanagar, irate residents started assembling near the pandal and Bittu’s house. A team from Bidhannagar South police station was sent to the locality.
With Bittu eluding the police, residents blocked a road for around 30 minutes on Sunday morning. A few tried to block the Bypass as well, but could not because of police intervention.
Around 11.30am, some residents learnt that Bittu had been spotted on Eastern Drainage Canalside Road, near the Jal Vayu Vihar housing complex in Salt Lake, 10 minutes from Sukantanagar.
A large group of men from Sukantanagar, armed with sticks and bamboo poles, ran towards Salt Lake. A small police team followed them on foot.
On spotting Bittu, the mob thrashed him. The cops were thrashed, too, when they tried to rescue Bittu.
An officer said the cops made Bittu board a taxi that was waiting at the signal, but the mob stopped the cab and broke its rear windshield.
“A back-up force arrived and took a critically injured Bittu to Salt Lake Sub-divisional Hospital. From there he was taken to RG Kar hospital, where he was admitted to the intensive care unit," the officer said.
Bidhannagar police commissioner Gaurav Sharma and fire and emergency services minister Sujit Bose, who is also Bidhannagar MLA, visited the locality to pacify the residents.
“We have started an investigation. The murder weapon has been seized. The brawl broke out over playing music," Sharma said.
Playing of loud music post-10pm is banned.
“We did not receive any noise complaints from the area,” an officer said when asked why playing of music through loudspeakers was allowed after 10pm.
Minister Bose said: "Bittu has multiple cases against him. We will help Saheb’s family in every possible way."