Excelsior Correspondent
UDHAMPUR, July 13: A contractual labourer at Air Force Station Natha Top was strangulated to death by his colleague after some altercation, last night here under the jurisdiction of Kud Police Station.
Acting swiftly, Udhampur Police arrested the accused within 24 hours and solved the case, which prima facie appeared to be blind murder.
Identity of the deceased was established as Shankar Lal, son of Fateh Singh of Latyar Lander in Udhampur, who was found dead with a rope around his neck on a bed inside his room at the Air Force Station.
On getting information about the incident, Police registered a case and started investigations. A police party under the supervision of SDPO Chenani, Gian Chand Sharma and led by SHO Kud Inspt Rakesh Bamba reached the spot and collected crime details from the scene of crime.
During the course of investigation, police noticed that although the room was bolted from inside, a window pan was broken. Taking lead from this evidence, police enquired about co-workers who used to stay along with the deceased in that room and came to know that four contractual labourers used to stay there, out of whom two were on leave.
Subsequently, police immediately arrested the other co-worker namely Tirath Ram son of Meer Chand of Kither, Udhampur who confessed the murder by him.
The accused narrated that the deceased worker used to abuse him of his daughter. On that very day, the deceased abused him of his daughter in drunken condition following which he strangulated the former with his hands and then bolted the door from inside before fleeing away through window.
The accused also revealed that the rope, which was found around neck of the deceased, was kept by him with the intention to mislead the investigating team.