16-year-old boy in Tripura held for murdering family members, neighbour

AGARTALA: A 16-year-old boy allegedly murdered three members of his family and a neighbour at a remote village in Tripura's Dhalai district and dumped their bodies in a well, a senior police officer said on Sunday. The accused has been detained for interrogation, the officer said.

"Initial investigations suggest that the boy, a resident of Kamalpur subdivision, routinely consumed drugs. He killed his mother, grandfather, 10-year-old sister and a neighbour on Saturday morning when his father was away. The motive of the crime is not clear as yet," the officer said.

According to the officer, the boy's father came home to find blood splattered everywhere, and the bodies dumped in the well next to the house. The father raised an alarm, following which villagers informed the police about the incident.

Villagers claimed that they could hear loud music playing around 9.30 am at the household of the accused, and hours later his father found the four bodies in the well.

"We suspect that he played loud music to keep other villagers in the dark," the police officer said. The bodies were recovered on Saturday evening and sent for post-mortem, he said.

"There were injury marks on the bodies which indicate the killer used blunt object to murder the four persons.

However, the actual cause of death will be known only after the postmortem report arrives," the officer said, adding that the accused was detained as he was trying to flee the village.