Five-year-old’s decomposed body found after 3 days

The body has been sent for post-mortem and the police are awaiting the report to ascertain how the boy, Shailesh Kumar, was murdered.

The body of a five-year-old boy, who has been missing from his home at Maneechpada area in Vasai since Tuesday afternoon, was found in a semi-decomposed state inside a room of a chawl, near his home, on Friday morning.

Police are probing if the suspect and the boy’s father, Tajeshwar, had any past rivalry, which could have led to the boy’s murder. (Photo: Getty images/ Shutterstock)

The body has been sent for post-mortem and the police are awaiting the report to ascertain how the boy, Shailesh Kumar, was murdered.

“We registered a case against an unknown person under sections 302 (murder) and 363 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and are investigating further. We suspect one of his neighbours, who is missing since Tuesday, to be the killer,” said senior inspector Vilas Chowgule, Waliv police station.

Police are probing if the suspect and the boy’s father, Tajeshwar, had any past rivalry, which could have led to the boy’s murder.

On Tuesday, Tajeshwar, a resident of Kailash chawl, had approached the police after Shailesh did not return home in the afternoon.

The police had registered a case of kidnapping and began investigating.

On Friday morning, some locals in Richard Compound, which is near the victim’s home, complained about a foul smell emanating from a locked room . On breaking the door open, the police found the boy’s body in semi-decomposed state.