TURA, Jan 7: In an incident that has sent shock waves across the town of Tura and beyond, a 24-year-old man from Assam murdered his uncle over a business dispute in the heart of the town and that too in the presence of hundreds of onlookers.
The incident took place at about 11:30 am at the Tura Super Market (betel nut market) when Minarul Islam of (of South Salmara, Assam) got hold of a meat cleaver with which he stabbed his uncle Jaha Uddin in the stomach leading to the latter being grievously injured.
The attack was so brutal that the cleaver cut through most of the internal organs of the victim’s body.
The attack was so sudden that onlookers did not even have time to react or stop the attacker.
Immediately after the incident, a resident informed the police control room and within no time police personnel arrived on the spot to nab the accused as well as send the victim for medical treatment. However, the victim died on the way to Tura Civil Hospital due to the grievous nature of the injury and excessive loss of blood.
The victim and the accused were both betel nut traders and had shops adjacent to each other in the Tura Super Market. As per reports from the ground, the dispute stemmed from the fact that the uncle had placed a gunny bag of betel nut in front of his shop which the accused objected to as it blocked customers from entering his shop due to the narrow passage in front.
Police reports stated that there was an ongoing business rivalry between the two.
“The argument heated up very quickly when no consensus was reached. We don’t know he managed a cleaver but next thing we saw him stabbing his uncle in the gut and then pulling it down through his stomach. The scene gave us the jitters and we informed the police of the attack. The accused was immediately taken into custody while the uncle was sent to the hospital. We later heard he died while on the way,” a trader, who witnessed the incident, said.
The victim had been staying in a rented accommodation in the Rishipara locality of the town.
