Kochi: A migrant labourer, working as a cleaning staff at the CIAL golf club at Nedumbassery here, has beaten to death an Odisha native, a contract employee there, following an altercation over non-payment of two months pending salary. Benu Das (34), a native of Murshidabad in West Bengal, was arrested by the Nedumbassery Police on Monday for allegedly murdering Ashok Patra, a contract employee with the CIAL Golf Course. The accused was working under Ashok, who has taken up contract for cleaning works with the CIAL Golf Course for the past one year.
According to police, the incident happened on Sunday night at a rented house at Moozhiyar when the accused asked Patra to settle his salary as he was returning to his native village this week end. The latter, however, replied he would send the money to Das’ bank account later. An altercation soon broke out and escalated into a fist fight between the two. Das, in a fit of rage, smashed Patra’s head using a metal rod, leading to his death. The accused was later produced before a local court which remanded him to judicial custody. The body of Ashok patra will be handed over to relatives after conducting the autopsy.
