india

Updated: Jul 24, 2019 22:32 IST

A 10-year-old boy who went missing two days ago in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district, 186 km east of Bhopal, was found dead six km away from his home on Wednesday afternoon, police said.

“The child’s hands and legs were tied with a tape and bruises on his body suggested that he might have been murdered,” said Amit Sanghi, superintendent of police, Sagar.

The SP suspended a constable Bal Kishan on the charges of dereliction of duty after Rishabh Raikwar’s father Ghanshyam Raikwar alleged that instead of searching his son, the constable misbehaved with the family members in an intoxicated state.

Sanghi said, “Rishabh was playing outside his house on Monday when he was reported missing. The family members searched for him but when he was not traced they lodged a complaint with police.”

A special team has been formed to nab the accused, he added.

After recovery of the body, villagers of Kesali staged a protest against police for carelessness.

“My son could have been saved had the police acted swiftly in the matter,” said Ghanshyam Raikwar, the boy’s father.

More than half a dozen incidents of kidnapping and murder of minor boys and girls were reported from across the state this year. The victims include twins from Chitrakoot who were kidnapped and murdered in February this year.