Kathmandu, August 24

Police have arrested a 51-year-old man for allegedly killing his younger brother by hitting him with a hammer on the head at Jhonchhe, Kathmandu Metropolitan City-23.

Hours after Raju Manandhar hammered Gautam Manandhar, 47, to death, he was arrested last night. DSP Santosh Acharya, MPC in-charge, said Raju, who is facing murder charge, had admitted to killing Gautam over property dispute.

Though the incident took place at around 2:00pm yesterday when Gautam was asleep in his room, it came to light only after one of his neighbours informed MPC about it. Acting on tip-off, Raju was arrested from New Road area at 10:00pm while he was on his way to turn himself in to Metropolitan Police Circle.

In his statement to investigating officers, Raju claimed that he hit Gautam on the head with the hammer since his brother always engaged in heated arguments over property partition.

According to MPC, the incident took place in the room of Gautam, but other members of the family did not even get a clue about the incident. Police officials said Raju executed the crime meticulously and fled for a while to different places in the city by locking the room’s door from outside.

Police have launched investigation to establish whether the murder was impulsive or premeditated. However, Raju claimed that he killed his brother in fit of rage. Last week, police had arrested a man for allegedly killing a woman in Budhanilkantha and making off with her gold ornaments. Sudama Lamichhane, 30, of Kakani-2, Nuwakot, was apprehended from Kapilvastu district where he fled to after murdering Parbati Dhakal, 55, of Rasuwa at around 1:00pm on July 27. He killed Parbati by hitting her with a hammer on the head in her daughter’s house at Taulung of Budhanilkantha Municipality-1.

According to police, incidents of murder are on the rise in the Valley. While 42 murder cases were reported in the fiscal 2015-16, it swelled to 56 last fiscal, registering nearly 14 per cent rise. Animosity, monetary greed and mutual distrust were the leading cause of murders reported in the Valley.