Skeletons of four ‘missing’ children found near Haryana village by police

The accused, Devraj (23), had killed his nephew and niece and two of their friends over a fight he had had with his brother-in-law, the siblings’ father, police said .
According to police, the accused was detained in 2013 after the incident for questioning, but released later. Shortly after he was called for a second round of questioning, he and his wife fled the village, police said.

Satyaprakash, the father of the siblings, then told police about a minor altercation he had had with Devraj and said he could be involved in the case. Police then started looking for the accused, and managed to nab him nearly two years later.

“Recently, police received a tip that Devraj, who now lives in Aligarh district in Uttar Pradesh, was going to visit Hariyahera. He was finally nabbed on Tuesday.
During questioning, he admitted to killing his sister’s children over differences he had with his brother-in-law,” ACP (Crime) Rajesh Kumar Chechi said.

The accused had lured his nephew and niece to the hills, while they were on their way back home from school along with two other girls from the neighbourhood, police said.

“He took them behind the bushes and stabbed them to death. He then hid the bodies there,” ACP Chechi added.

On Wednesday, when the accused was taken to the area where he had killed the children and hidden their bodies, he claimed to have forgotten the exact site of the crime, said the police. The police team, along with some villagers, combed the hilly terrain and found the skeletons after a four-hour search.

“If the police had done their job properly then, it would not have taken two years to nab him,” said Shokeen Khan, a resident .

While the search was going on, Devraj also made two unsuccessful attempts to escape from custody, said the police.

Later in the day, the accused was produced in a city court, which sent him to three days’ police remand.

The skeletons of the children have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Madhuban for DNA tests. Devraj will be questioned further, police said.