Nagpur: Shock and grief gripped Kalamna village on Thursday morning after a 22-year-old youth was allegedly murdered by his friend, who smashed his face with a stone while they were sleeping on a rooftop.

The deceased, identified as Deepak alias “Bhola” Bhujbal Chandralekh, was found lying in a pool of blood on the terrace of a house in the narrow lanes of Kalamna village.

According to police sources, the accused, Amol Laxman Waghmare (31), a resident near Hanuman Mandir in Kalamna village, has been arrested in connection with the murder. Police said Amol was mentally unstable and undergoing treatment for psychiatric illness, but reportedly failed to take medicines regularly.

Investigators revealed that Amol lived with his sister, who works night shifts as a caregiver for patients. On Wednesday night, Deepak had stayed over at Amol’s house and both were sleeping on the terrace. Police suspect that during the night, Amol attacked Deepak with a stone lying nearby, crushing his face.

The incident came to light when Amol’s sister returned home from work on Thursday morning and noticed blood stains on his clothes while he was wandering around the locality. She took him home and later found Deepak’s body on the terrace along with the blood-stained stone. She immediately alerted the Kalamna police.

Senior Police Inspector Praveen Kale and his team rushed to the spot, conducted a panchnama and sent the body for postmortem. A murder case has been registered and further investigation is underway.

Police said Amol had earlier been admitted to a government mental hospital for nearly six months. Deepak, too, was reportedly mentally challenged and often stayed away from home for days, leading his family to initially believe he had gone out as usual. The sudden news of his death has left the entire locality in mourning.