Islampur, June 30: A man killed his four-month-old daughter by flinging her in front of a truck on NH31 in North Dinajpur’s Chakulia this morning following a fight with his wife.

The man, who was allegedly drunk, has been arrested.

Police said Siddhanta Biswas, a vegetable vendor, got into an argument with his wife after she refused to give him money to buy liquor.

“We have questioned the neighbours and were told that Siddhanta used to get into regular rows with his wife over his drinking,” an investigating officer said.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that soon after the argument, Siddhanta snatched the girl from her mother’s lap and ran outside to the highway, which passes close to their house in Dumuria village. He threw the child towards the onrushing truck, which crushed her to death, the police said.

Siddhanta got married to Rupali 15 years ago and apart from the daughter, the couple have three other children — two boys aged 10 and five and a four-year-old girl.

Ten-year-old Sanjoy, who ran after his father and witnessed the act, was in a state of shock as he sat on a bench in the Chakulia police station. “Please make sure that my father is punished and he never comes back to torture us,” he told the police.

According to residents of Dumuria, Siddhanta used to often beat up his wife and the village elders had convened several salisi meetings to sort out the differences between the couple. Rupali moved to her elder brother, Satya Haldar’s house in the same village. But neighbours said Siddhanta often went to stay with his wife and children. “After bouts of drinking, Siddhanta often reacted violently whenever Rupali refused him money,” a neighbour added.

“We are trying to figure out the motive behind this barbaric act,” said the officer-in-charge of Chakulia police station, Sukumar Mishra.

The villagers said Siddhanta also suspected that the four-month-old girl was not his and fought with his wife over this on several occasions. “Maybe, he could not suppress his anger in a drunken fit,” a villager said.