Boy who found sibling’s body first thought it’s a plastic doll

Police said the post-mortem report has not been able to ascertain the time and cause of death. “The body was completely decomposed… The remains will be sent for further forensic examination to an Agra laboratory,” said Rakesh Kumar Singh, SHO, Sahibabad police station.

Recounting how they discovered the body, Mohammad said, “On Saturday evening, my eight-year-old son went to fetch a ball and told his elder brother that he saw a gudda (plastic doll) in a peti… On Sunday, he WhatsApp-ed the photo to my nephew… when he went there, he realised it was my son.”

Mohammad said he had visited the terrace several times since his son went missing. “But there was no smell… the only time there was a stench was when I went to the terrace on Sunday to identify him,” he said.

Rakesh Kumar Mishra, Circle Officer (Sahibabad), said, “It is possible that policemen and the boy’s family did not check that portion of the terrace. There are no stairs to access that part; one can reach it only by using a ladder. Also, there’s a garbage dump nearby so it’s possible the stench from there masked the smell.”

After the boy went missing, the family had received ransom calls asking for Rs 8 lakh. On December 13, 2016, two men were arrested.

“They made the calls after spotting posters of the missing boy in the locality. They are out on bail now,” said an officer.

“It needs to be checked if there was sexual assault… It seems the boy was killed within a couple of days of his disappearance… We are probing the role of a family member or someone known to the child,” said Mishra.