Youth kills brother on suspicion of mobile phone memory card theft in MP

A 19-year-old youth allegedly killed his younger brother who was a minor on suspicion that the latter stole his mobile phone memory card and sold it to someone in a village in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh, police said Tuesday.

The murder was committed on Sunday night and the accused was arrested on Monday, said police.

Surakhi police station in charge Anand Raj said the body of 16-year-old Lekhan Ahirwar from Gosra village was found on a cot in his house on Sunday night with deep injury marks on his neck.

“The police team which reached there found that the deceased’s elder brother Madan Ahirwar was not present in the house and villagers told the team that the two brothers often used to have quarrels between them. A neighbour said he heard noise from the house on Sunday night but thought it was a usual quarrel between the two brothers,” he said.

The police officer said the deceased’s parents were away in their agriculture field when the incident took place. The deceased’s younger sister who is mentally retarded was home. On getting information from some villagers that they had seen the elder brother near a hillock with an axe and some clothes in his hand the police team later detained him.

“During interrogation Madan Ahirwar who is a school dropout confessed to have committed the crime. He told us that two to three days back his younger brother had stolen the memory card from his mobile phone and sold it to someone and despite repeated queries he didn’t admit that he had stolen the memory card. On Sunday night too, he again questioned his younger brother and wanted to know whom he had sold the memory card. His younger brother’s consistent denial of his alleged crime infuriated him and he hit him with the axe lying nearby that caused his death on the spot,” Rai said.

The police officer said the accused was arrested under section 302 of Indian Penal Code. He was produced before a court from where he was sent to judicial custody.