NOIDA: A day after a 10-year-boy from Sarfabad village in Sector 73 was found murdered, villagers in the area said they have started locking up their children in their homes before leaving for work.
Pappu, who went missing on October 11, was found buried under a heap of bricks at a construction site, just 500 metres from his rented accommodation in Sarfabad village on Monday. Pappu’s father Ram Lubhavan said he went missing while playing with other children outside his home at 5 pm.
The locals said some of them have even given the responsibility of their kids to neighbours.
Seventeen-year-old Karishma said she is at home, taking care of her three siblings. “My parents and I work in Prateek Laurel society in Sector 120. Today, I didn’t go to work so my parents have not locked up my siblings. However, on Monday, my parents had locked them in our house when all three of us were at work,” she said.
Karishma said she also has to take care of five other children, staying next door. “Their parents have gone for work and asked me to keep an eye on them,” she said, adding that the locals are practising this after the murder of Pappu.
The police said they have recovered condoms and desi liquor pouches from the crime spot. He was possibly murdered on the night of October 11, they added.
However, the locals said some boys, including at least three juveniles, have been detained in connection with the case. “I was called by police for questioning and the next day, my son was called. However, he was allowed to go,” said a local.
Another woman from the same neighbourhood said her 15-year-old son was detained but later allowed to go.
Additional DCP (Noida) Ranvijay Singh told TOI that it seems some miscreants used to frequent the area. The post-mortem has ruled out sodomy, an officer said, adding that they are probing the case from all angles.
Though the boy had gone missing on October 11, the Sector 49 police station took six days to lodge an FIR in the case. On the other hand, a relative of Pappu, alleged that the cops dilly-dallied in making efforts to trace the kid.
According to Ram, Pappu had been playing with children outside his home around 5pm when he went missing. Ram had alleged that despite making several rounds of the police chowki and the Sector 49 police station, they were not given a copy of the FIR. “We would ask for a copy but were always denied,” he had alleged.
The body was found decomposed and the investigators believe he was murdered. The police then converted the FIR related to kidnapping into a murder (IPC Section 302) case.
In another incident on Tuesday, an 18-year-old youth has been reported missing from Surajpur, Greater Noida’s Tilapta.
The youth did not return home from morning walk on Sunday, the police said. A missing complaint has been lodged at the Surajpur police station, police said.