Bhubaneswar, July 22: In a bizarre incident, a man, suspected to be mentally ill, today stoned to death a person near Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Park in Vani Vihar as the latter refused to give the food he was carrying.

The incident took place in full view of the public.

Police said that the deceased was a beggar whom local residents knew as Naresh. The accused, Sunil Kumar Jena from Sriram Nagar in Chakeisiani, was arrested immediately after the incident.

Eyewitnesses said they saw the two talking to each other and while Jena suddenly attacked Naresh hitting him with a stone. A fruit vendor, Trilochan Das, who lodged the complaint, said he had seen Naresh going towards Rasulgarh Square with some food in a polythene carry bag. Suddenly, he was accosted by Jena who asked him for the food. Denied the food, Jena hit his head with a stone.

“Before we could understand what was happening, Jena had dragged Naresh towards the boundary wall of the park and crushed his head with a stone near a bush,” said Trilochan.

The police rushed to the spot and sent the victim to Capital Hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

Jena was later arrested from Chakeisiani. The police said they were told by Jena’s neighbours he had worked with the CRPF some 12 years ago and was suspended from service after assaulting a colleague.

“Since then, he has been leading the life of a tramp,” said a police officer.

The police said they had taken the accused to hospital for medical examination to know whether he was mentally unstable or not. “When we asked him to sign on a paper, he wrote his name properly. So, we wanted a medical examination done on him,” said the officer, adding he would be forwarded to court after his medical report was available.

A senior police officer said had the murder occurred in an isolated place, it would have been very difficult for them to nab the culprit. No one would have doubted on him as he was a known face in the area.