PILIBHIT: The mystery surrounding the death of a 10-year-old boy , whose body was found in a sugarcane field in Rooppur Kamalu village with mutilated ears and heels on November 23, was solved after one month, on Tuesday the arrest of an accused, police said.

Cops said the man had claimed that he had sacrificed the boy for oblation in want of a child.

Brajesh Singh, station officer of Sunnigarh police station, told TOI that the boy was a resident of Rooppur Kamaloo village and was a student of class III. He went missing on November 21. His maternal uncle had last seen him going out with the accused Durgesh alias Pappu, a mason by profession, on the same day but he did not take it seriously as Durgesh was a neighbour and known to the boy.

After the incident, the boy did not return home and his father, a farmer, started searching for him along with other relatives. He found the dead body of the kid on November 23. His ears and heels were mutilated, giving an impression that some untamed animal had killed him. Under this impression, the father did not lodge any FIR in the matter but simply informed the police of recovery of his son’s dead body.

Police then sent the dead body for post mortem, which revealed that the kid had been murdered, the SO said.

The SO said that an FIR had been lodged against Durgesh under section 302, 325 SC/ST act and he was arrested on Tuesday. The police would also interrogate his wife Omwati to find out whether she had also played any role in the sacrifice of Pranshu.

