Teen’s skeleton found in septic tank in Maharashtra’s Wada after three years

The victim’s cousin was arrested on Saturday, after he confessed to the murder and revealed that he had disposed the body in the septic tank of the farm house.

The Palghar Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested a 22-year-old man from Kerala for the murder of his 16-year-old cousin brother, on December 28, 2016, at a farmhouse in Wada at Palghar, Maharashtra.

The victim was murdered by his cousin who threw the body in a septic tank at the farmhouse where they both worked. (Representational Image)

The man was arrested on Saturday, after he confessed to the murder and revealed that he had disposed the body in the septic tank of the farm house.

The victim, Aminul Haque Mohammed Mumtaz Ali, from Rajali village in Assam, worked as a migrant labourer at the farmhouse. The accused, Mansur Mohammed Akbar Ali, worked in the same farmhouse.

“On December 28, 2016, Mansur argued with Aminul and hit him on the head with a lathi (stick). Aminul died at the spot,” said Mansinh Patil, assistant police inspector, ATS, Palghar.

Mansur threw the body into the septic tank and then joined the farmhouse’s manager in filing a missing complaint with the Wada police. Mansur continued to work at the same farmhouse for over a year after the murder.

The accused had even used Aminul’s phone after the murder and later thrown away the SIM card to avoid being detected. “That was a major clue to Mansur’s involvement in the murder,” said Patil. The accused was charged under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He was produced before the Jawhar court and remanded in police custody till October 1, said Patil.

The ATS has sent the skeletal remains for DNA analysis and is awaiting the report.