Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur

Kundapur, Aug 27: A businessman was seriously injured after a person barged into his workplace and stabbed him with a knife. The incident occured in a battery shop near Sangam here on Wednesday August 27.

Basel D'Souza (64), owner of Royal Metal Works and resident of Mangalapandya road, was stabbed allegedly by his relative Dolphy D'Souza (33), a resident of Anagalli. The police have taken Dolphy into custody.

On Wednesday evening, Basel was sitting inside his workplace while three employees were working outside. Basel's son Benson was also inside. Dolphy D'Souza then entered in and on the pretext of asking the price of copper, he threw over some rolls of white paper around Basel and allegedly stabbed him just below the chest with a knife he had brought along.

Basel who was seriously injured was immediately rushed to a private hospital in Kundapur by his son and other workers. After preliminary medical attention, he was then shifted to Manipal hospital for advanced treatment. Town municipal council members Sridhar Sherigar, Rajesh Kaveri and others visited the spot.

Dolphy who stood rooted to the spot still holding the knife was taken into custody by the police who arrived soon after the crime was reported. Perhaps suffering from shock at what he had done, Dolphy reportedly began blabbering and calling himself 'mental' and 'mad'. The police also took possession of the knife used in the crime. Speaking to reporters, police said that Dolphy's psychiatric condition could be detemined only after an examination by doctors.

It is said that Dolphy had worked with Basel for about 14 years in the same Royal Metal Works. But all of sudden, without giving any reason, Dolphy reportedly left the job. While his father worked as a coppersmith in Anagalli, Dolphy stayed home unemployed.

Basel has been running Royal Metal Works for over 30 years, dealing in copper and battery business. He is a former president of Rosary Cooperative Bank, and presently its director. He has served as vice-president of Kundapur's Rosary church committee and is also a member of Kundapur Rotary Club.

However, the motive behind the murder attempt is not yet ascertained. Locals said that Basel has as many enemies as he has friends, and expressed suspicions that someone might have made use of Dolphy's alleged mental illness to conspire against Basel.

Kundapur police are investigating further.