A 17-year-old football player was hacked to death by three youths in Baruipur in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas on Monday following a dispute over a match result in which his team won, the police said. The deceased has been identified as Prasenjit Biswas, 17.

The police have arrested five people — identified as Mayukh Sardar, Jaganna Sardar, Sairul Mondol, Sahin Mondol and Ripan Bazikar —  in connection with the incident.

According to preliminary reports, Biswas’ throat was slit with a sharp weapon while he was returning in the evening after winning a football match at Fultala in Baruipur. He was rushed to Baruipur Sub-Divisional Hospital, where the doctors declared him brought dead.

Angry residents blocked the road and staged a protest in front of Baruipur Sub-Divisional Hospital on Monday as the police took the accused for medical examination. It is alleged that the protesters also vandalised the police camp at the hospital.

A large police force has been deployed to bring the situation under control. The Baruipur police suspect prior enmity over a football match as the reason for the murder. However, investigators hope that they will be able to get the motive of the crime once they complete the interrogation of all the suspects.

Baruipur has been tense for the past several days following the rape and murder of a minor girl. The body of the 11-year-old was found in a sack dumped in a pond.

The preliminary autopsy confirmed sexual assault and also revealed that the child was alive when she was thrown into the pond.