Five days after he went missing during the immersion of the Lalbaughcha raja idol on Monday, the body of Saish Marde washed ashore at Girgaum chowpatty on Saturday afternoon.
Saish (3), was with his family on a boat that overturned at the chowpatty on September 24. After looking for him in vain for two days, his family registered a case of kidnapping with the D B Marg police station. The police, along with citizen volunteers, had been conducting daily searches at the chowpatty and nearby areas since then, while also scanning Closed Circuit Television cameras for clues.
According to police officers, Saish’s body washed ashore at around 12 noon on Saturday, while a mixed group of policemen and members of the Marde family was looking for him.
Jagdish Tandel, a relative of the Mardes who spotted the body, said, “There were five of us, including policemen, conducting a search when I saw a body on the shore. I went over and recognised the T-shirt that Saish was wearing the day he went missing and the locket around his neck. I immediately alerted the police.”
The police took the body to JJ Hospital for post-mortem, and called Saish’s parents so that they could formally identify the body.
While Saish’s parents were too disturbed to speak, Prakash Meher, a relative of Saish’s mother, said, “We have been searching for Saish every morning since he disappeared. It was very difficult for his parents to identify the body as it was extremely decomposed. They identified him on the basis of his clothes.”
Saish’s parents, Jayesh and Nita, have been staying at Mr Meher’s residence in Cuffe Parade since Saish went missing. The family originally stays in Tarapur.
The D B Marg police are now conducting further inquiries.
“Although we are still waiting for the post mortem report, which will ascertain the cause of death, inquiries so far indicate that Saish died due to drowning. No indication of foul play has come to light so far, nor do we have any reason to suspect anything of the kind at this stage,” Senior Police Inspector Suryakant Bangar, D B Marg police station said.