Ludhiana: Two factory workers, desperate for a drink, allegedly lured a helpless, inebriated man to an empty lot and beat him to death with a concrete block for just ₹1,500.The crime highlights a serious, multi-year pattern of alcohol-fuelled murders in the industrial centre. Sandeep Srivastava and Ishaq Ali, both laborers from Uttar Pradesh, were arrested after police traced their movements using nearby closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.He had reportedly seen an inebriated man sitting outside a liquor shop near Sherpur area. With no money to buy their own liquor, the two targeted the man because his situation made him vulnerable.“The accused was confident that he would not resist,” said Gurshinder Kaur, head inspector of Division No. 6 police station. “They supported him under the guise of helping him walk and took him to a nearby vacant lot.”Once inside the isolated area, Srivastava and Ali allegedly took out ₹1,500 from the man’s pocket. When he attempted to retaliate, the suspects beat him and crushed his head and face with concrete blocks found at the scene.Inspector Gurshinder Kaur said, “The suspects used the stolen cash to buy liquor, drank it and fled.”Passersby spotted the body the next morning and alerted police, who reviewed security footage, which showed two suspects carrying an unsteadily walking man toward a vacant lot. Both men are in custody on murder charges.