Headless body of 12-yr-old boy found after a month, hunt on for accused

Speaking with The Indian Express, the boy’s uncle said, “At around 7.15 pm on January 28, the man who was staying in the neighbourhood for the past two months, took him under the pretext of giving him a cold drink.”

The 12-year-old boy subsequently informed his mother and went with the neighbour (suspect).

“As the boy did not return and was untraceable for a while, the mother informed her husband and alerted the locals, following which everyone started looking for them,” said the uncle.

In the wee hours on January 29, the locals spotted the suspect after which they detained him.

“On another instance, the suspect was caught four days ago for stealing something when he was assaulted by the locals due to which he had sustained injuries on his forehead and had stitches. Also, after we caught him on January 29, he was beaten up and was bleeding from his forehead,” said the uncle.

He was then taken to the police station by the locals but there, a police sub-inspector asked him to go and wash his face instead.

“He then went outside under the pretext of washing his face and escaped from the police station,” said the uncle adding, “Since then we have been looking for the suspect and the 12-year-old boy and in the afternoon on Monday, we came to know that the boy’s dead body has been located.”

The police said the headless body was found at Kharganga near the Eastern Freeway.

“As we conducted searches near the spot, his head was found a few meters from where his corpse was recovered,” said a senior police officer.

The Wadala Truck Terminal police, who had initially registered a case of kidnapping, have added sections of murder and destruction of evidence in the FIR.

The Mumbai police have formed multiple teams and the crime branch is conducting a parallel probe.

“We have learnt that the suspect was arrested in a murder case at West Bengal and had stepped out of jail on a parole after which he did not return and escaped from there a few months ago. We believe that he then settled in the central suburbs of Mumbai which is in the premises where the family of the victim resided,” an officer added.

The police, meanwhile, have also set up an inquiry against the police sub-inspector for allegedly not detaining the suspect after he was brought to the police station on January 29 by the locals and letting him go to wash his face without any escorting policeman.

“An assistant commissioner of police has been assigned the job to conduct an inquiry against the police sub-inspector,” said a senior police officer.