The body of a seven-year-old boy, who had gone missing from outside his residence on Wednesday, was found in an open manhole at Trilokpuri in East Delhi on Thursday. Angry locals staged a violent protest, injuring four police personnel.
Arun, a resident of Block-9 of Trilokpuri, went missing around 6 p.m. on Wednesday. His family members looked around for him and then lodged a missing report with the local police. Subsequently a kidnapping case was registered and efforts initiated to trace the boy, the police said.
Around 10 a.m. on Thursday, area residents spotted the missing boy's slippers lying near an open manhole close to his residence. They then fished his body out of the pit. “We suspect that the child died after he fell into open manhole. However, all possible angles are being probed at this stage,” said a police officer. The locals alleged that the manhole was located at a place where there was a public toilet earlier.
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“There are eight such manholes, none of them is covered,” alleged an area resident.
While the body was being taken for post-mortem, the locals offered resistance alleging that the police did not act in time and rather misbehaved with Arun's father Ajay when he went to the area police station to lodge a missing report on Wednesday. The situation soon went out of hand when they started pelting stones at the policemen. Subsequently extra force was called in. “Four policemen have sustained injuries. However, they are out of danger,” said the officer, adding that provisions pertaining to alleged negligence on the part of the civic body would also be added to the case.
The victim's body has been handed over to his family. His father is a daily-wage worker.
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