A man attacked his sleeping brothers with a bhojali at their Watgunge residence early on Thursday, killing one and seriously injuring the other.

Police said preliminary investigations suggest that the incident was a fallout of business rivalry. The assailant is absconding.

'The three brothers ' Nagendra, Jitendra and Upendra Singh ' used to run a transport business. The injured brother is under observation at SSKM Hospital and is not in a position to answer our questions,' said Gyanwant Singh, deputy commissioner of police (detective department).

According to the investigators, the incident took place around 4.30 am.

'Nagendra, the eldest brother, first attacked Jitendra. His throat was slit before he could raise an alarm,' said an officer of Watgunge police station.

Upendra, who was sleeping in the room, woke up while his brother was being attacked. 'Sensing trouble, he tried to flee. But Nagendra chased him down and pinned him to the ground before he could leave the room,' added the officer.

Nagendra tried to slit Upendra's throat, too, but only managed to hit him on the shoulder, said police.

'The bhojali hit the right shoulder of Upendra, who started screaming. Nagendra realised that he was in trouble. So he let his brother go and fled,' said another officer of the police station.

'We have recovered the blood-stained bhojali that Nagendra left behind,' he added.

Hearing Upendra's cries for help, neighbours rushed to the house. They took the brothers to SSKM Hospital, where Jitendra was pronounced dead and Upendra's condition was stated to be critical.

An investigating officer said: 'Three months ago, Nagendra was asked by his two brothers not to intervene in their transport business after he was found stealing money from the company fund. Nagendra then started lending money to people at high rates of interest.'

A dispute arose after Jitendra and Upendra refused to share business profits with their brother.

Nagendra, who had recently moved to a rented house in the locality, came to his brothers' residence late on Wednesday and said that he wanted to discuss the matter with them. He was allowed to stay by his brothers.