Man kills co-worker for tricking him into eating beef

A man was arrested for allegedly killing his 31-year-old co-worker who "deceitfully" fed him beef and taunted him repeatedly over it, officials in Varanasi said on Wednesday.

Details of the arrest 

The accused, Virendra, a resident of the Solapur police station area, was arrested on Saturday night from his maternal uncle's house, Sindhora Station House Officer (SHO) Gyanendra Kumar Tripathi said. 

Discovery of the body and initial investigation 

The body of the victim, Aftab Alam, a resident of Bihar, was found on January 8 in Mahagaon village under suspicious circumstances, with blood seen coming out from his mouth and nose, the SHO added.

Following suspicions raised by the victim's family, police launched an investigation. Scrutiny of Alam's bank accounts revealed money transfers to the account of Virendra, Tripathi said.

"An examination of CCTV footage from an ATM showed Virendra with Aftab," he added. 

Motive for the murder 

During interrogation, Virendra told the police that he had worked with Aftab in Bengaluru, where Aftab allegedly fed him beef without his knowledge and later taunted him about it in front of their friends, which led him to plan the revenge, the SHO said. 

The murder 

On January 7, Virendra called Aftab to his house and then took him to a secluded spot in Mahagaon with an associate and strangled him to death using a rope, he added.

The following day, Virendra allegedly transferred money from Aftab's mobile-linked bank account to his own, Tripathi said. 

Evidence recovered 

The police have recovered the rope used in the murder, the victim's Aadhaar card, ATM card and mobile phone on Virendra's disclosure, the SHO said, adding that efforts are on to trace the co-accused.