An eight-year-old boy was found dead in the sugarcane fields here with the police suspecting that he was strangled after sexual assault. But the family accused police of not acting on a ransom call.
Police have detained another minor on the basis of the family’s complaint.
The deceased’s father Zulfikar, a resident of the Murhiya locality under the Faizganj Behta police station, alleged the police were negligent and did not make any effort to trace the child.
He alleged it was too late by the time police registered a case after he received a call demanding a ransom of Rs 5 lakh. As a result, the boy could not be saved and his body was recovered from the sugarcane field 36 hours after the incident.
On Thursday, when Zulfikar received the ransom call, he lodged a complaint with the police claiming to recognise the caller’s voice, the family members said.
However, police denied the ransom angle and suspected the child might have been strangled after sexual assault.
According to police, the minor had gone missing on Wednesday afternoon. When he did not reach home till the evening, his family lodged a complaint with the police and a complaint missing was registered.
Police have detained the minor who, according to the minor’s family, called Zulfikar, and based on inputs received from him, recovered the deceased’s body.
Senior Superintendent of Police OP Singh said that after inspecting the site of the crime, it seems the child might have been strangled after committing an unnatural act with him.
“The accused person is also a minor, who is being interrogated,” Singh said, terming the demand of ransom as baseless.
He added that efforts are on to nab the other culprits.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI)