Pilibhit: Four-year-old ‘sacrificed’ in search for treasure, 11 held

According to police, two of the accused — Munna (35) and Sudhir (37) — kidnapped the child while his father was working in his field on November 17. The same day, they took him to Munna’s farm where they performed a “puja” along with the other accused and later killed the child and mutilated his body, the SHO said.

A day later, a missing complaint was filed at the police station by the child’s father, Premshankar.

“The next day, the child’s body was spotted by villagers near a lake in the village. The body was sent for a postmortem. On November 25, the boy’s father lodged a complaint with the police station in which he named Sudhir as accused,” the SHO said.

According to police, the child’s father had heard from locals that his son was killed by some men who had performed a puja.

“The boy was brutally killed by these people. Six of them took part in the ritual of killing the child, while the other six watched from a distance of around 20 yards… We have recovered religious articles like a Trishul, a piece of cloth on which the boy was made to lie down before he was killed. The boy was killed used a sharp object used to break the ice,” said a police officer involved in the investigation.

Police have booked the 12 under sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), 364 (kidnapping), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.