An argument over “what’s for dinner” turned fatal on Thursday night at a village in Falakata block of Alipurduar as a former CRPF jawan bludgeoned his septuagenarian father to death.

Police sources said that around 10.30pm, former CRPF jawan Pankaj Hore argued with his father Subhash over the dinner menu at their home in Palashtali village under Falakata police station.

While Subhash wanted fish for dinner, Pankaj insisted on chicken.

As the fish-versus-chicken debate got more heated, Pankaj suddenly got furious. He picked up a wooden plank and hit his father on the head. Subhash fell on the ground.

Neighbours rushed the old man to the super-specialty hospital in Falakata where he died soon after.

Some other villagers in the meantime detained Pankaj and thrashed him. Some people had also informed the police, which arrived and arrested Pankaj.

Later at night, Pankaj's brother Dipankar filed a complaint with the police, based on which a case was registered against him.

On Friday morning, Pankaj was produced at a local court in Alipurduar and was sent to judicial custody for seven days.

Brown sugar arrests

In Malda, the Englishbazar police arrested two persons and seized 350 grams of brown sugar (a derivative of opium) and around Rs 11 lakh in cash from them from near Loton Mosque of Mahadipur on Thursday night.

The duo was nabbed when they were waiting in an SUV with the cash to allegedly collect some more narcotic substances. They have been identified as Prasenjit Ghosh and Naserul Islam, both residents of villages located under Baishnabnagar police station of the district. Another person with them managed to scamper away, the police said.