PUNE: Eleven-year-old Vishwajeet Vinod Vanjari, who was reported as missing since Friday evening from Kelewadi in Kothrud, was found murdered in an open plot along Paud Road on Sunday.
“We are questioning the victim’s friend (13), who was last seen with Vishwajeet on Friday evening,” assistant commissioner of police Machhindra Chavan told TOI. “We have also detained a few others for questioning,” he added.
Chavan said the victim’s parents lodged a missing person’s complaint on Friday night with the Kothrud police. “We were looking for the boy and checked every nook and corner of Kelewadi, including the gutters and and drainage lines,” he said.
On Sunday afternoon, a police team entered the open plot owned by an educational institution. “The plot has a compound wall, but people enter it from a gap. Our team found Vishwajeet’s body in the bushes. We also found bricks and cement blocks near it,” Chavan said. It is now a murder case.
Vishwajeet’s neighbours had were gathered outside his house. His parents, elder brother and sister had gone to their relative’s house, which is in Gokhalenagar.
Savita Shirke, Vishwajeet’s neighbour, said the family came to Kelewadi about a year ago. “Vishwajeet would play outside his house. He was a pretty sharp boy and helpful too,” she added.
He would come home sharp at 7.30pm for dinner. “On Friday, when he did not turn up, his mother alerted us. We too searched for him in the area and shared his photographs on different social media groups. His death is shocking,” Shirke said.
Ulka Padval, the landlady, said the family had moved from Gokhalenagar when they could not afford the rent there.
Padval said Vishwajeet’s father is working with a sliding door contractor, and his mother works as a supervisor with a housekeeping firm. “His parents are always busy with work and their children,” Padval said.