The Police checked with the family, who confirmed the body belonged to their son Vidanand Yadav  (Representational)

A 23-year-old auto driver was arrested Saturday for allegedly decapitating his 13-year-old neighbour and dumping his body in a forest in the Malwani area.

According to police, the deceased, Vidanand Yadav, was a student of Class IX. He had been reported missing by his parents at the Aarey police station a week ago. The Malwani police, which made the arrest, found that the accused, Karan Bahadur, had fought with the deceased and his mother over a minor issue a week ago.

Bahadur, however, wanted revenge and on Friday, allegedly took Yadav with him in his autorickshaw – under the pretext of a joyride – and stabbed him to death, before decapitating him, police said. He then fled the spot.

The police found Yadav’s highly decomposed body near the MTDC plot in Malwani area on Friday night. His head was found some distance away from the body. Based on his clothes and a gold necklace he was wearing, the police started checking for missing persons complaint reports across police stations in the city. They found a complaint at Aarey which matched the description of the clothes found near the body.

They checked with the family, who confirmed the body belonged to their son Vidanand.

DCP (Zone XI) Vishal Thakur said that when they started making enquiries in the area, they found out about the fight Yadav and his mother had with Bahadur.

“Bahadur, who resided opposite the deceased’s residence, had a small cement boundary made outside his door to prevent rainwater from entering his house. It led to some altercation with Yadav’s family and the 13-year-old broke the boundary…” Thakur said. The police said during interrogation, Bahadur confessed to the murder, following which he was placed under arrest for murder.