BERHAMPUR :A teenager was stabbed to death in Ganjam’s Khalikote on Tuesday evening over a cricket match dispute that took place in May last year.
Seventeen-year-old Rajesh Das of Kairasi village was stabbed multiple times by his friend-turned-foe, also a minor, when he was returning home after buying medicines for his ailing mother. Both the accused and the deceased were classmates and had reportedly dropped out of college (Plus Two) last year.
Ganjam SP Jagmohan Meena said in May last year, the accused minor was beaten up with a cricket bat by Rajesh and three other boys during a match in Kairasi village. A video clip of the assault also went viral on social media. Basing on the clip, Khalikote police registered a case and arrested the four minors including Rajesh. All of them were later sent to correctional home.
Humiliated by the incident, the accused minor was nursing a grudge and waiting for an opportunity to settle scores with Rajesh.
Meena said recently, Rajesh and others were released from correctional home. On Tuesday evening, the teenager was on way home after buying medicines when the accused confronted him near the village pond. Without any provocation, he stabbed Rajesh on the chest, abdomen and leg with a knife before fleeing the spot.
A critically-injured Rajesh was rushed to Khalikote community health centre (CHC) where he succumbed during treatment.
On being informed, police reached the hospital and seized the body for autopsy.
The SP said after committing the crime, the accused fled Kairasi village. However, he was nabbed by police from nearby Maheswarpur late in the night. The accused minor was produced before the juvenile justice board and sent to the correctional home in Berhampur on Wednesday.