The body of an 11-year-old who had been missing for around 26 hours was found without clothes in a pond near a quarry in Jhansi on Friday night, prompting police to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.
The Class 5 student’s body was spotted around 11pm in a pond in the Bhainsasur area, around 3 km from the boy’s home in the Premnagar area. His family members identified him at the spot, where police personnel were already present.
Jhansi Circle officer (Sadar) Simran Singh said the family had reported the boy missing on Thursday night, following which a case was registered and police teams were deployed to trace him.
“On Friday night, we received information that a child’s body was found in a pond near a quarry in the Bhainsasur area. Police reached the spot and called in the forensic team to collect evidence,” she said.
The circumstances of the child’s death are yet to be established. Police said the postmortem examination would help determine the cause of death.
According to the family, the boy went out to play around 6pm on Thursday after having tea at home but did not return. His family members began searching for him as night fell and approached the police late that night.
The search continued on Friday, with police and family members looking for the missing child. However, there was no breakthrough until a neighbour informed the family about the body in the pond late Friday night.
The boy’s grandfather reportedly suspected foul play, claiming that the child would not have gone so far from home alone, and urged police to investigate the circumstances thoroughly.
Investigators are examining the evidence collected at the spot, while the postmortem findings are expected to provide crucial leads in determining how the child died, police said.
