KOLKATA: A 20-year-old boy died on Monday after ‘winning a bet’ with his friends who challenged him to drink cup of boiling hot tea in one gulp. Sohail Akhtar felt he could with an additional Rs 20. All he had to do was drink boiling hot tea at one go. A resident of Gas Street, Sohail and his friends were standing in front of a stationary shop when they got the idea. Police said Sohail took up the challenge first and poured the tea down his throat. Even before his friends had started to ‘celebrate’ his feat, Sohail was writhing in pain and complaining of a burning sensation in his throat and chest. “He rushed to an adjacent soft drink shop and drank chilled water. But it gave him no relief. His friends then took him to a local doctor’s chamber. The doctor advised him to go back home and take rest,� officers of the Amherst Street police station said. Sohail was taken home where his condition started deteriorating and he started vomiting blood. His anxious father Jamaluddin rushed him to the Nil Ratan Sarkar Medical College and Hospital where he succumbed to his burns at around 2.10 am on Monday. Police said Sohail used assist his father in his envelope-making factory Kesab Chandra Sen Street. He was a cheerful boy and had many friends in the area. Every day after work would spend time with them, neighbours said. “They used to bet on different issues almost every night. They had never imagined that a simple and seemingly harmless bet would turn out to be fatal,� a police officer said. Sohail’s friends, however, alleged that timely treatment could have saved his life. He was left unattended at the hospital for an hour.