Odisha: Missing boy’s body found in septic tank after 5 days, uncle arrested

Five days after an 11-year-old boy went missing in a village of Odisha’s Puri district, the police recovered his rotting corpse from a septic tank on Sunday evening

Updated on: Apr 21, 2025, 15:33:50 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Five days after an 11-year-old boy went missing in a village of Odisha’s Puri district, the police recovered his rotting corpse from a septic tank on Sunday evening.

The body was recovered from the septic tank of a person in Ratanpur village of Puri. The boy’s uncle, Prabhakar Sahoo, confessed to the crime after several days of interrogation. He has been arrested and charged with murder, though he has not revealed the motive till now.

Police officials of Delanga station said the 11-year-old was last seen playing outside his house on April 16 evening. Family members said the boy had returned home at 6 pm after dropping his eight-year-old sister at her tutor’s residence in the same village.

However, he went missing by the time his mother went to give him evening snacks 15 minutes later. His parents lodged a complaint with the Delanga police.

Villagers said the accused was a distant relative of the deceased child. “He stayed close to the victim’s house. The kid was playing cricket and was seen talking with him,” a villager said.

After the body was recovered, a large crowd gathered outside the house of the accused and vandalised his property.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

Murder Charge

Home/Cities/Others/Odisha: Missing Boy’s Body Found In Septic Tank After 5 Days, Uncle Arrested