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PANAJI: A 30-year-old man was stabbed in the neck while he was asleep by an acquaintance for non-payment of a debt ofRs10, but survived the attack luckily. Investigations by Bicholim police revealed that Vakil Yadav was stabbed by Bechan Sahani, 32, on Saturday night. Yadav was admitted to Goa Medical College and Hospital in a critical condition and was operated upon on Sunday.

"We have arrested the accused before he could escape from Goa and have registered a case against him under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC," Bicholim PI Harish Madkaikar said. Police said Yadav had borrowed Rs 10 from Sahani on Wednesday and promised to return the money immediately. However, as Vakil failed to return the money even four days later, an upset Sahani met Yadav on Saturday at about 6pm and demanded the Rs 10 from him. "When Vakil told him that he didn’t have money to repay the debt, it upset Bechan, who then abused the victim in foul language," sources said. They added that this led to a scuffle between the two who also traded punches, till they were separated by two persons who were in the vicinity at Amona.

Police said that Sahani then went home and planned to teach Yadav a lesson. Accordingly, at 9pm on Saturday, Sahani, taking a sharp knife from the kitchen left to meet Yadav at his residence under the Amona bridge. Seeing Yadav asleep, an angry Sahani used his knife to inflict an injury on Yadav’s neck. "The victim woke up startled and screamed in pain. Seeing Bechan with the knife, he caught hold of his hand due to which the knife fell from his hand. Seeing people gather around the victim, the accused escaped from the place and ran to his residence," police said. Police were informed and when they arrived at the spot, witnesses narrated the entire episode to them, based on which they arrested Sahani from his residence before he could escape, police added. Yadav and Sahani are from Uttar Pradesh and are employed as loaders for trucks carrying sand at Amona for the last three years. Though they worked for different persons, they were known to each other.