Migrant worker allegedly beheads colleague over money dispute, dumps torso in Surat cemetery

AHMEDABAD: A Rs 30,000 financial dispute allegedly led to the murder of a migrant worker in Gujarat's Surat city, where a man from Odisha is accused of killing his colleague, severing his head and dumping the headless torso in a Christian cemetery. Police arrested the accused and recovered the victim's head from railway tracks nearly three kilometres away.

The Katargam police arrested Sachitra Kumar Narendra Bal, a native of Odisha residing in Surat, for allegedly murdering his 30-year-old colleague Sanjay and disposing of his remains at two separate locations.

The case came to light late on November 3, when police received information about a headless, unclothed torso lying inside a Christian cemetery in Katargam. A team of senior police officials, forensic experts and a dog squad rushed to the spot and recovered the remains from thick grass reportedly four to five feet high.

Investigations subsequently revealed that the victim's head had been dumped near railway tracks beneath the Alkapuri Bridge, nearly three kilometres from where the torso was found. Acting on information obtained during the accused's interrogation, police recovered the severed head from bushes and prepared a formal panchnama.

The remains were sent to SMIMER Hospital for post-mortem examination and further DNA analysis.