HOWRAH: A 54-year-old man was killed by his son on Thursday afternoon after a tiff over a bottle of expensive scotch at Dasnagar in

. Twenty-six-year-old Mangal Das forcibly tried to take a bottle from his father’s collection of premium scotch and single malt liquors when the fight broke out. The victim, Durgapada, protested and tried to snatch the bottle when it fell and broke.

The youth thrashed his father as he fell to the floor and his head smashed against the door frame. He began bleeding profusely and the youth fled the spot.

Mangal’s younger brother who had just entered the room saw his brother escaping and called the cops. Durgapada was taken to Baltikuri government hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. Cops later began a manhunt for Mangal and arrested him from a friend’s place in Domjur. He was charged with murder.

“We have arrested Mangal Das on charges of murdering his father. The two had a fight over a bottle of liquor that allegedly led him to kill his father in a fit of rage,” said Sunil Yadav, deputy commissioner (south) of Howrah City Police.

Police said Durgapada was a labour contractor and had a fascination for expensive liquor. Mangal was unemployed and a known drunkard in the area. “On Thursday, he had fits asked money from his father to buy liquor but when he denied, he tried to take away a bottle from the father’s cellar,” said an officer of Dasnagar police station.