Bhopal, Nov 21 (IANS): A 45-year-old labourer's hand was chopped off allegedly by his employer when he asked for his pending wages in Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh.

As per the police, Ashok Saket who had been working as a construction worker for Ganesh Mishra in Dolmau village of Rewa district demanded his payment which was due for last few months.

Saket visited Mishra's house and asked him to clear his payment. Mishra refused to give his payment saying he has already cleared it.

"Refusing to clear payment of labourer resulted into heated argument between Mishra and Saket. In the mean time, Mishra went inside and came out with a sword and attacked Saket. Mishra tried to hit Saket on his neck, but he defended with his hand. Due to this, one of his hand was chopped off," Shiv Kumar Verma, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Rewa told IANS.

After the incident, Mishra ran away to escape from the police. Mishra's family members changed Saket's clothes (stained with blood). "They (Mishra's family) tried to hide severed hand and blood stained clothes. As Saket's condition deteriorated, some villagers rushed him to a government hospital and informed the police," Verma added.

Subsequently, the district police reached the spot and search operation was launched on Saturday night. "Mishra was arrested around 50 km away from the spot. We also got severed hand and handed over to the doctors treating Saket in the hospital," he added.

Saket's condition is critical and is admitted in the ICU ward, said a senior doctor in Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital (SGMH) in Rewa.

The district police have arrested main accused Ganesh Mishra and two of his brothers under attempt to murder. They have been booked under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provisions of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (prevention of atrocities) Act was also imposed against the accused.