Drunken fight over ‘cold bhajiya’ ends with man killing friend

Raipur: A drunken quarrel over a plate of cold fritters meant to eaten as 'chakhna' for drinks, turned into a brutal killing in the state capital on late Wednesday, where a dairy worker allegedly beat and stabbed his close friend to death inside their room, and the assault captured on CCTV. According to police, the two friends were drinking together in their room at the dairy. Durgesh went out to buy bhajiya (fritters) and returned with the food, which Sunny complained was cold. What started as a minor taunt escalated into a heated argument under the influence of alcohol. In a fit of rage, Sunny allegedly threw Durgesh to the ground, then began raining kicks and punches on him. Police said that the CCTV footage shows the accused dragging his friend, assaulting him repeatedly, and later attacking him with a knife and an iron rod. Durgesh collapsed, bleeding heavily. Police said the accused, Sunny Sahu, 22, and the deceased, Durgesh Satnami, 24, both worked and lived at a milk dairy in Kachna region of Raipur. Police said that after realising the severity of the assault, Sunny lifted his injured friend and took him to hospital for treatment. Doctors, however, declared Durgesh dead on arrival. Witnesses at the hospital told police that Sunny sat near the body and wept inconsolably, allegedly expressing remorse for what he had done. Hospital authorities informed the police. By then the dairy owner had already informed the police about finding blood stains and dragging marks on the floor inside the empty room and the duo men missing. Two separate teams went to the hospital and to the dairy. Subsequent scrutiny of the CCTV footage from the dairy showed Sunny attacking Durgesh with a rod and knife, confirming the sequence of events. Acting on technical inputs Sunny was taken into custody. During questioning, officers said, he confessed that an argument over "cold bhajiya" while drinking led to a fight in which he fatally assaulted Durgesh with an iron rod. Police have registered a case of murder under Section 103(1) of the BNS at Khamhardih police station of Raipur. Sunny was produced in court and remanded to judicial custody. Investigators said the two men were considered good friends and had been working together for some time. But that night, alcohol and anger turned the friendship into a crime scene.