58-year-old Raipur tea garden supervisor Ratan Majundar was attacked this afternoon by a worker named Geet Bahani Nayak following a hot exchange of words between them over being allowed to go home after duty hours, they said.
Majumdar had allowed a batch to go home and asked another, of which Nayak was one, to stay back for some more time.
Angry over this, Nayak whisked out a knife and attacked the victim. He then picked up a spade lying nearby and hit the supervisor with it repeatedly inflicting deep wounds, police said.
The victim was rushed to a Siliguri hospital where his condition was stated to be critical.
Police were on the look out for Bahani, who is still absconding.