Puri: Body of an 11-year-old boy, missing since April 15, was recovered from a septic tank at Ratanpur village of Odisha’s Puri district on Sunday evening.
His uncle, Prabhakar Sahu, has been arrested and charged with murder.
This came hours after family members of the boy staged a demonstration outside the Delang police outpost and blocked roads by burning tyres over the delay in tracing him.
According to the police, Ashirbad Sahu, a Class VI student of Ratanpur village, was last seen at around 6.15 pm on April 15. He was then playing near his house. His uncle, Somanath Sahu, later lodged a complaint with the Delanga police station.
The police questioned several people, including his uncle, but were unable to crack the case.
“We were suspicious about the role of the boy’s uncle in his disappearance from the start and kept him under watch. Finally, we arrested him on Sunday evening from a dhaba in Tangi Chandpur,” a police official said.
During interrogation, the man broke down and confessed of the crime. He led the police to the septic tank of his house, where he had dumped the mutilated parts of the body. “We suspect that past enmity between the man and the boy’s family led to the crime. We will be questioning him further to ascertain the motive and possible involvement of others,” the official said.
Also Read: Protest Over ‘Inaction’ Of Police In Tracing Missing 11-Yr-Old Boy In Odisha’s Puri
Meanwhile, irate villagers stormed and ransacked the house of the accused this morning.
