A three-year-old boy's headless body, who went missing on November 30 from near his residence in east Delhi's Preet Vihar area, was recovered from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, police said on Tuesday.


The police revealed that the victim was allegedly kidnapped and later killed by his neighbour, the news agency PTI reported.


The decomposed and headless body was recovered from a field in Meerut today morning, police said, adding that some parts of the body were devoured by animals.


The boy's family members and locals took to the streets and raised slogans alleging police inaction after the news about the victim's death spread in the area.


The police said that it is suspected that the accused, who has now been arrested, had kidnapped him with the intention to abuse him sexually, PTI reported.


However, only the postmortem report will reveal whether he was sexually abused, according to a senior police official.


Amrutha Guguloth, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East), said that the information was obtained from the accused's uncle that he (accused) has arrived in Delhi and is currently at his residence in Jagatpuri.


"A police team was sent to the Jagatpuri residence and the accused was taken into custody. On sustained interrogation, the accused revealed that he left the child in a sugarcane field at Meerut. Thereafter, a team was sent to Meerut where it came to notice that local police have already discovered a body without head and limb," she said.


The DCP added that "The head was also found nearby. On the basis of the belongings and clothes, the body was identified to be that of the missing child from the Preet Vihar area. The accused has been arrested and further investigation in the case is on."


According to the FIR lodged by the victim's family, the offender was 16 years old. However, police added that documents recovered from his home determined his age to be over 18, adding that legal action is being pursued.


The police said that the victim's family reported the matter on November 30 after the boy and his neighbour went missing from the slum cluster of Chitra Vihar the same day.


Thereafter, a case of kidnapping was registered under Section 365 of the Indian Penal Code and accordingly, an investigation was taken up, they said. Police have also added the section of murder to the FIR.


The preliminary investigation revealed that even earlier when the accused was 11 years old, he had taken a minor somewhere and came back later with him, police officials said, as reported by PTI.


The police said that the accused has not yet confessed to killing the child and has neither revealed the reason for kidnapping him.


After the news about the boy's murder spread in Preet Vihar, his family members and locals gathered in large numbers outside the Preet Vihar police station and staged a protest seeking justice for the victim, police said.


The protest slowed traffic on Vikas Marg near the Preet Vihar police station. Traffic officers stated that they had to make necessary diversions to ensure smooth traffic flow. 


(With inputs from PTI)