Farmer attacks mother, brother with sickle over land dispute

A farmer was arrested for slashing his mother and elder brother with a sickle over a land dispute in Malda district’s Laxmi Colony.

The incident took place on Monday morning when Ganesh Singh, the elder son of Dimlia, was farming on a piece of land in Laxmi Colony, which comes under the jurisdiction of English Bazar police station.

His younger brother Shyam tried to stop him and soon a fight ensued between the two. Suddenly, Shyam picked up a sickle that Ganesh was using to dig up the land and went to attack his elder brother.

Dimlia rushed to the spot to stop her sons from fighting and stood in between the two.

Shyam, however, accidentally struck his mother with the sharp end of the sickle which pierced her belly. Ganesh too was injured in the incident, but his wounds were not serious.

“The old lady was found screaming inside the house. Neighbours took her to Malda Medical College 

and Hospital where she was admitted in a critical situation,” said a police officer.

Police, meanwhile, arrested the brothers. “Shyam tried to hurt his elder brother but he did not have any intension to hurt his mother. He claimed to have accidentally hurt his mother,” said the officer.

Police learnt that the dispute between two brothers is very old. They had fought over the same issue in earlier too. “The original owner of the land was Rakesh, their father, who died in 2014. Since then, the brothers have been fighting over the possession of the land,” the officer said.

Police also learnt that Dimlia earlier had tried to resolve the issue by mediating with her sons, but here efforts were in vain. “The mother advised them to be patient and said she would equally divide the land soon. But the sons did not pay heed to her words,” the officer added.

Meanwhile, police called up the wives of both Ganesh and Shyam for interrogation.