A person was stabbed after he tried to rescue his brother from a group of men who had attacked him for protesting bursting of crackers in Ashoknagar on Sunday.

Sushanta Das, 45, was admitted to Ashoknagar State General Hospital and later shifted to Barasat State General Hospital with multiple stab wounds.

Police arrested one person, Sanjib Das, on Wednesday based on a complaint filed by one of his family members on Tuesday.

In his complaint with Ashoknagar police station, Debasish Das said a group of youths kept bursting crackers at Rabindra Pally in Ward 13 on Sunday night when a spark from one of the crackers landed in Sumitra Roy’s house and set some clothes on fire.

The youths were drunk, he alleged. Roy stepped out of her single-storey house and protested, asking them to stop bursting crackers, Das said in the complaint.

“When I was protesting, my next-door neighbour Sujay joined in and asked them to stop bursting the crackers,” Roy is learnt to have told the police. “There was a scuffle and one of the youths started thrashing Sujay when his brother Sushanta came to his rescue.”

The youths left the spot but two men returned to Sujay’s house and picked on Sushanta before stabbing him, Das said in the complaint.

They apparently said it was meant to teach them a lesson before leaving the place.

People of the area took Sushanta to Ashoknagar State General Hospital. As his condition deteriorated, he was shifted to Barasat State General Hospital.

On Tuesday, Das, a family member, lodged the complaint with Ashoknagar police station. He named three men for the attack on Sushanta.

“We have arrested one of them, Sanjib Das,” an officer said. “It appears there was an old grudge between the two. The accused probably chose the Kali Puja protest to carry out the attack on Sushanta.”

The police have slapped a case of attempt to murder against Sanjib. A search is on for the other two named in the complaint.

The two are absconding and their phones are switched off, another officer said.

“We will speak to Sushanta once he is better,” the officer said. “His statement is vital to the case.”