KOCHI: A West Bengal native was found dead after his friend allegedly strangled him following a verbal duel at their rented house on SRM road in the wee hours of Wednesday. The deceased is Sekh Ashadul, 35, a native of Birbhum district, West Bengal.
The arrested is Jakir Hussain Ali, 35, also from Birhum.
According to officials at Ernakulam North police station, the duo were part of a seven-member group hired by a textile firm for embroidery work. “They were embroidery workers who arrived at Ernakulam on Tuesday evening. An agent hired them for work at a textile firm and arranged their stay at Chandrika Lane on SRM road,” the police said.
Around 3 AM, a clash broke out between Sekh and Jakir. “During the verbal duel, Jakir attacked Sekh with an iron-made frame. It hit the head of Sekh and he collapsed. Later, Jakir strangulated Sekh to death,” said the officer.
Their neighbours alerted the police after hearing a loud noise from the room and gathered in front of the room trying to open the door. “However, the accused did not open the door. We broke into the house around 4 AM. He was behaving hysterically when we brought him to the police station,” said the officer.
The body of the deceased was shifted to Kalamassery Medical College where the postmortem examination will be held on Thursday. Even though the police contacted the relatives of the deceased, they expressed their inability in travelling to Kerala. The police have decided to preserve the body for a few days before taking further decisions.