Man burnt to death by sons for property in West Bengal

Kolkata, Dec 5 : A man was tied up by his two sons and then burnt to death for property in a West Bengal village. The police saved the duo from being lynched by the villagers, an official said Friday.

The incident took place Thursday night at Birbalghata village of Islampore sub-division in Malda district, about 300 km from here.

"Rammohan and Ramdhani Singh tied their father Ramguljar with a rope. They emptied a can of petrol on him and burnt him alive around midnight Thursday. When neighbours rushed in to help, the duo threatened them with scythes and knives, and drove them away," sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) David Lepcha told reporters Friday.

Lepcha said after the incident, their neighbours gathered more people and started beating the brother with wooden planks.

"The duo would have died in the public-beating if the police had not intervened," he said.

"It seems the duo killed their father for property," he added.

According to a police official, Ramguljar, 71, had decided to sell three mahogany trees and six bigha out of his 26-bigha farmland Thursday morning. A bigha is equivalent to nearly a third of an acre in West Bengal.

"After hearing the news in the night, the two brothers started abusing Ramguljar. They wanted him to hand over all his property to them. But the old man was obstinate. This led to a scuffle and the sons dragged him out of the house and set him ablaze," said an official.

--IANS