Noida: Teen boy killed by two minors over money dispute; 1 detained

A 15-year-old boy was apprehended on Tuesday for allegedly killing a 13-year-old boy in the green belt area of Noida’s Sector 54, reportedly over a monetary dispute, senior police officers said

A 15-year-old boy was apprehended on Tuesday for allegedly killing a 13-year-old boy in the green belt area of Noida’s Sector 54, reportedly over a monetary dispute, senior police officers said. Police are also searching for another minor who is suspected to have been involved in the crime.

The victim’s family alleged that although the decomposed body of the teenager was recovered by police around four days ago, they were called in for identification only on Tuesday morning. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

The victim’s family alleged that although the decomposed body of the teenager was recovered by police around four days ago, they were called in for identification only on Tuesday morning. The boy’s mother said she identified her son by the red sacred thread (kalava) on his hand and his belt’s buckle, as the body was in a highly decomposed state.

The Class 9 student had left his Sector 20 home around 4pm on August 16, telling his sister that he was going to attend the birthday party of a friend in Chaura village in Sector 22.

His mother, who works at a government hospital in Noida, told HT, “After 24 hours, when my son failed to return home and I was unable to contact him as he did not have a phone, I approached police on August 18 and informed them that my son was missing. They assured me all help to find him but no formal complaint was registered.”

The family said they were sent from Sector 20 to Sector 24 police station, citing jurisdictional issues. Later, after the matter escalated, a case under Section 137(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), pertaining to kidnapping, was registered against two named suspects at Sector 24 police station at 12.56am on Tuesday. The family was subsequently called to the post-mortem house in Sector 94 to identify a body recovered from the green belt area.

“With the help of the kalava and belt buckle, I identified my son. His body was totally decomposed. He was in the post-mortem house for the last four days but police did not tell us,” said the mother, through her tears.

Police refuted the allegations of laxity, saying they did not receive any missing person complaint until Monday night. “After we received the complaint, a case was registered, and they were called in to identify the body. Apart from this, one of the suspects was also detained from Shahjahanpur on Tuesday morning,” said Mayank Tiwari, assistant commissioner of police, Noida.

Police investigation revealed that the two suspects and the victim — all minors — were close friends. “It was revealed that on the night of August 16, the suspects took the minor to the green belt to party. According to the suspect who was detained, they killed him as the victim owed some money to them. They smothered him to death and left his body at the spot,” said ACP Tiwari.

“We were alerted about the body on the night of August 21 by locals who noticed a foul smell,” he said.

“The victim’s face was unrecognizable and his right hand below the wrist was missing,” said a police officer, adding that the post-mortem was conducted on August 22. The post-mortem report did not mention any injuries to the body. His viscera has been preserved to determine the cause of death.

Police subsequently registered a murder case at Sector 24 police station and formed teams to apprehend the other suspect. Investigators said the detained juvenile will be questioned to ascertain how much money the victim allegedly owed the suspects.

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