New Delhi: A week after a mutilated body of a nine-year-old boy was found in Valsad district of Gujarat, Dadra and Nagar Haveli police arrested two men and detained a teenage boy who allegedly killed the child as part of a "human sacrifice" ritual for “monetary benefits”, news agency PTI reported.
According to the report, the child went missing from Sayli village in the Dadra and Nagar Haveli on December 29 following which a kidnapping case was registered at Silvassa police station on December 30.
A search operation was launched and police found the headless body, matching the child’s description, at Vapi, located around 30 km away from Silvassa, the headquarters of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
While the body was found in a canal, parts of the body, suspected to be of the victim were found in Sayli village, where the ritual was reportedly performed, police said.
The body parts have been sent for forensic test and a case of murder has been registered, police added.
"The investigation led the police to a juvenile. He revealed he had kidnapped the victim on December 29, 2022, from Sayli village and murdered him as a human sacrifice with the help of his accomplice," PTI quoted the official as saying.
As per the report, the interrogation of the detained juvenile helped police recover the weapons used in the crime.
The detained boy said that his friend Shailesh Kohkera helped him in the murder, police said.
"He said one Ramesh Sanwar was also part of the conspiracy. Sanwar prompted the detainee and Shailesh Kohkera to perform a human sacrifice ritual in the hope of gaining monetary benefits," police said.
Based on the input, Kohkera and Sanvar were traced and arrested on January 3.
Police said the juvenile worked as a butcher in a meat shop in Sayli. He is a native of Karjan village in Kaprada taluka of Tapi district in Gujarat.
The boy has been sent to the observation home at Surat and further investigation is underway, police said.
According to police, a team of 100 personnel was formed to nab the accused.