Jadavpur: An autorickshaw driver, who had left home on the night of Bengali New Year (Poila Baisakh) on Tuesday to attend a feast with friends, was found dead near his home at Rabindrapally in Patuli the next morning.
Toton Aich was taken to Baghajatin State General Hospital, where he was declared dead on Wednesday.
Police said Aich had last spoken to his wife around Tuesday midnight. The next morning, his mother spotted him lying near their home.
“Preliminary inquiry revealed that Toton Aich and his friends had an altercation with a group of men at a tea stall not far from his home. We are trying to ascertain if his death was related to this,” said an officer of Jadavpur police station, under whose jurisdiction the alleged incident happened.
A murder case has been registered with Jadavpur police station based on the family's complaint.
The preliminary post-mortem report suggested that the victim had a ruptured kidney. “The cause of the injury is still unknown,” said an investigator.
Aich's wife said: “My husband left home to have dinner with his friends around 9pm on Tuesday. We spoke around midnight. He said he will return soon.”
The family alleged that someone had beaten up Aich, which caused his death. They, however, could not mention any possible motive, police sources said.
The police said they were examining his friends and analysing CCTV footage to find out the sequence of events that happened on Tuesday night.
No one was arrested till Thursday evening.