How a stray dog helped police discover body of a missing nine-year-old boy in Silvassa

According to police sources, the boy, son of a vegetable seller, left his house to play in the evening but did not return by night. They informed police who reached the spot and carried out a search operation after taking a missing persons complaint from the boy’s father.

Police then checked CCTV camera footage in the surrounding area. In one of the footage, of a hotel near the boy’s house, he was seen playing with a stray dog. Police talked to the boy’s family members who told the personnel that the minor used to regularly play with the dog and feed it.

On Wednesday, police began searching for the dog. In the afternoon, the dog was seen removing sand from the top of the pile – around 60 meters away from the boy’s house.

Police personnel and local residents climbed atop the pile, removed some of the sand, and found the body of the minor.

Police took the body to Vinoba Bhave Civil hospital for post-mortem examination. On Wednesday evening, doctors took out viscera samples from the body and sent them to the Forensic Science Laboratory for testing to find the exact cause of death.

“The sand pile belongs to a local person. Once we get the post-mortem report from the hospital, it would be clear why and how he died,” said a police officer, on condition of anonymity.

Talking to The Indian Express, the boy’s father said, “The villagers and police were busy in finding my son in different areas. The stray dog was a friend to my son and did his duty by discovering the body. Neither my son nor the dog ever went to the sand pile as it was surrounded by a boundary wall of barbed wires. Seeing the dog digging sand on the top of the sand pile, we sensed something amiss and followed him.”