Friends take selfie as man beheads cousin in Jharkhand

A 20-year-old man beheaded his cousin over a land dispute in Jharkhand's Khunti district, and the accused's friends took a selfie with the severed head, police said.

The incident happened in the Murhu police station area of the district, they said.

Six people, including the prime accused and his wife, were arrested on Sunday based on a police complaint lodged by the deceased man's father on December 2.

Kanu Munda, 24, was alone at home on December 1 as others had gone to the paddy fields for work, the father said in the police complaint.

On returning home in the evening, villagers told the father that his nephew Sagar Munda and his friends have abducted his son.

After failed attempts to trace Kanu, his father lodged the police complaint the next day.

A police team headed by Khunti Sub-divisional Police Officer Amit Kumar was formed to apprehend the accused.

Following the arrest of the accused, the torso was found in Kumang Gopla forest and the head 15 km away at Dulwa Tungri area, Murhu police station officer-in-charge Chudamani Tudu said.

The officer said that the accused persons had taken a selfie with the severed head.

Five mobile phones, including that of the deceased, two blood-stained sharp weapons, an axe and an SUV were seized, Tudu said.

A long-standing feud between the families of the deceased and the accused over a piece of land is stated to be the reason behind the killing, the officer added.