A Trinamul worker allegedly mistaken for a thief and beaten up, died as he jumped into a pond to flee from his assaulters in Nadia’s Santipur on Sunday night.

Construction worker Manik Mondal, 35, was apparently drunk and walking aimlessly when people mistook him for a thief and began to beat him. To escape beatings, Manik jumped into a pond and drowned.

Manik’s body, recovered early on Monday, bore many suspected injury marks, a villager said.

Family members and a Trinamul member of Belgoria-II panchayat, Krishna Raha, alleged Manik was killed on mere suspicion even though he lived barely a kilometer from the spot where he was intercepted.

The police have begun a case of unnatural death.

“There is no specific complaint so far. It appears the man fell into the pond in a drunken state and drowned. We are waiting for the autopsy report,” a police officer said.

Local sources said Manik, who earlier worked in a Pune hotel, lost his job during the Covid-induced lockdown two years ago. He returned home and became a construction worker, but lack of regular work reduced his earnings.“This triggered fights with his wife, who left him a few months ago. Since then he became addicted to alcohol,” a relative said.

Raha said: “Manik wasa Trinamul worker and agood person. Tensions turned him into an alcoholic. He was with me till 9pm. It appears he got drunk on his way back home when some villagers mistook him for a thief and beat him up.”