The case of a 11-year-old boy, who was reported missing since last week, took a tragic turn on Tuesday with the discovery of his body in a sump situated inside the Corporation garbage dump yard at Ariyamangalam.
The partially decomposed body of Abdul Waheed was retrieved from the sump in the presence of Tahsildar and police personnel. The body was recovered on the basis ofi nformation provided by four youth who were detained by police for inquiry.
The boy, a resident of Mela Ambikapura in the ciity, left home on the night of December 3 to a nearby shop after getting money from his mother. As he failed to return, his parents launched a searched that proved futile. Thereafter, his mother preferred a complaint with Ariyamangalam police on December 7. A boy missing case was registered and the police circulated details of the boy along with his photograph.
On Monday, a few youth were picked up for questioning. Based on the information reportedly provided by them that the boy was murdered and his body dumped in a sump inside the Ariyamangalam garbage dump yard police conducted a search to ascertain the genuineness of the information. The Tahsildar was requested to come to the spot following which water was discharged from the sump to look out for the body and retrieve it. A senior police officer said the body was retrieved from the sump in the evening.
The sources said the boy’s body, with a stone tied to it with a rope, was dumped inside the sump. The sump which had no lid on top of it had been built to tackle accidental fires erupting inside the huge garbage dump yard, said the officer.
The boy's parents were called to establish his identity. The body was later sent to Mahatma Gandhi Government Hospital for post-mortem.
The boy, who was studying in class 6 in a government school had not been going to school for a few months now, said the police. Preliminary inquiry revealed that he knew the four youth who sold scrap after allegedly stealing them.
The boy had of late kept away from the quartet. One of them, who was allegedly involved in a two-wheeler theft case, feared he might have informed the police about the crime. The boy was assaulted by a group of youth leading to his death, the sources said.
