BHUBANESWAR: A 55-year-old man was allegedly bludgeoned to death by his 25-year-old son following an argument over the former’s refusal to give money for alcohol, in Mancheswar here on Tuesday. Police have arrested the accused S Devaraj on charges of murder.
Police said Devaraj was a drug addict and on medication. His father S Duryodhan was a labour contractor from Ganjam district. The family was living in Manchanath Vihar area of Mancheswar where the incident occurred.
Sources said Devaraj was addicted to drugs and had earlier been admitted to a de-addiction centre by his father. Following doctor’s advice, Duryodhan mixed prescribed de-addiction medicine with tobacco in a bidi and gave it to his son to help him overcome the addiction. However, Devaraj reportedly disliked the medicine-laced bidi and often refused it.
He also frequently asked his father for money to buy alcohol and the duo often had arguments over the latter’s refusal for the same. Police said tension escalated on Monday night when Duryodhan again denied to give money to Devaraj. The father-son duo had a major argument after which the accused reportedly threatened to kill his parents if they did not give him money, police said.
On Tuesday morning, while his mother was away, the accused again asked his father for money. When Duryodhan refused yet again, the accused in a fit of rage allegedly assaulted his father with a plastic pipe before repeatedly hitting him with a stone.
Hearing his cries for help, neighbours rushed to the spot to rescue him but the accused attacked them too. Duryodhan eventually died on the spot, said Mancheswar police. ACP Biswa Ranjan Senapati said the family members claimed Devaraj had a brain tumour owing to which he became aggressive at times.
After his arrest, Devaraj was produced in court. Meanwhile, both police and scientific team visited the crime scene and collected forensic evidence, while the body was sent to the Capital hospital for postmortem. Further investigation is underway, said police.
