Youth stabbed to death during Holi celebrations in Bengal

Kolkata: A 20-year-old youth was murdered in a scuffle during Holi celebrations in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Friday, a police officer said.

Akash Choudhury, alias Amar, was accosted by three to four youths while celebrating Holi with his friends near his residence in Titagarh. As an argument broke out, he was repeatedly stabbed in his neck and other parts of his body by the assailants, the officer added.

Akash was taken to state-run Balaram Hospital Khardaha and then shifted to a private hospital in Belgharia. He was finally referred to R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, where he was declared brought dead by the doctors, the officer said.

Pawan Rajbhar, who was earlier jailed in connection with another criminal case in the area, was arrested for the attack. Two other accomplices of Rajbhar are absconding, police said.

Akash's uncle said he was a third-year student at a local college and a member of the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP).

However, neither police nor Akash's family attributed any political angle, saying the assailant had personal enmity with the deceased.