Kolkata, Nov 5 : Tension is prevailing at Raidighi in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district after a person was hacked to death by his nephew at a busy market place on Tuesday morning, police said.

The deceased has been identified as Sheikh Bahadur, 45, and the accused is his nephew Shahadat Sheikh.

The assailant is absconding and the police have started the process of tracking and nabbing him. As per statements given by the family members of the victim as well as the local people, a family feud was the reason behind the brutal killing.

The local people have informed the investigating officials that the feud between the uncle and nephew started over a recent theft at the residence of Shahadat Sheikh, for which he had held his uncle responsible.

According to the neighbours, since that time, there had been frequent quarrels between the two though no one imagined that the feud would result in such a gruesome end.

Eyewitnesses told the investigating officials that on Tuesday morning, Bahadur went to a tea stall located at a local market there. Suddenly, Shahadat arrived at the place with some of his associates and picked up a quarrel with his uncle. Soon the verbal spat between the two turned to scuffling and soon after, the nephew dragged out a sharp weapon and hacked his uncle to death. After that, he escaped from the spot with his associates. The local people shifted the profusely bleeding Bahadur to a local hospital where he was declared dead.

"The body of the deceased has been sent for post-mortem purposes. Meanwhile, our efforts are on to track the killer and his associates. The nearby police stations have also been alerted," a district police official said.

The shocking crime came hours after an unidentified body with its throat slit was recovered from the road at Raidighi only on Monday afternoon. Police are also investigating the matter.

/IANS