A drunken argument led to an altercation that resulted in the chopping to death of a 25-year-old farmer at Aranaputa Valley, North Rupununi on Monday night.

Dead is Orilly Lally of Aranaputa Valley. Police say that they have arrested the suspect and recovered a cutlass believed to have been used in the attack.

In a statement, the police said that the murder occurred at around 9 pm on Monday night. Investigations revealed that Lally and four other men were consuming alcohol when an argument developed between him and one of the men. “The argument later developed into an altercation during which it is alleged that Lally was chopped to his neck with a cutlass and died”, the statement said. The body was taken to the Lethem Hospital mortuary.

The police were alerted and the suspect was arrested and is in custody.

The cutlass believed to have been used in the incident has been recovered by the lawmen.

Meantime, police said that one of the other men, Silvan Joseph, who had intervened in the altercation, was chopped to his left upper shoulder and is receiving medical attention.