Residents block MG Road demanding arrest of minor suspect’s family members

The protesters reached the road around 2.30pm and started stopping cars and threatening to set them ablaze. When the police tried to disperse them, the protesters started shouting slogans. The father of the dead boy alleged that despite “recovering ample evidence” the police have not arrested the three accused.

More than 200 people, including the family of the six-year-old boy, whose mutilated body was found in a vacant plot in DLF Phase 1, blocked the Mehrauli-Gurugram Road for half and hour on Thursday to protest the minor’s brutal murder and demand the arrest of family members of the alleged suspect in the case.

The family suspected the role of a 12-year-old ragpicker from the same area who was allegedly last seen with the victim. (HT Photo)

The protesters reached the road around 2.30pm and started stopping cars and threatening to set them ablaze. When the police tried to disperse them, the protesters started shouting slogans. The father of the dead boy alleged that despite “recovering ample evidence” the police have not arrested the three accused.

Police, however, said the residents of the slum, where the boy lived with his family, launched the protest after confusion over black polythene bag, in which the police had kept the victim’s clothes. Karan Goyal, assistant commissioner of police (DLF) said the slum dwellers and the boy’s family thought that the police were carrying parts of the victim’s body.

The family suspected the role of a 12-year-old ragpicker from the same area who was allegedly last seen with the victim. The boy was apprehended on Thursday.

“A team from DLF Phase 1 police station had collected the clothes of the suspect from his house to check if they had any blood stains on them. When the cops were coming out of his hut, neighbours rushed towards them to ask what they were carrying,” said Goyal.

Personnel from at least three police stations were called to control the situation, police

The six-year-old deceased went missing on Monday. Parts of his body were found the following day. The boy’s family had alleged that despite lodging a missing person’s report, the police did not take action. “We had told the police that my son was last seen with a rag picker but they did not pay any heed. The suspect’s mother and sister are also involved but they are roaming freely,” said the father.

Some of the body parts of the dead boy are yet to be recovered. The post mortem suggested that the death was caused ‘due to grave head injury’.

“Blood stains were visible on the rock and stones behind the five-star hotel where the legs and skull were found. My son’s slippers and clothes were also lying at the spot but the police initially ruled out involvement of a minor who was last seen with him and kept telling us that my son was eaten by an animal in the forest area at night,” said the father and added that the body was found by the neighbours on Tuesday after they went out to search the boy.

The police said investigations in the case are ongoing. “We have collected ample scientific and circumstantial evidence from the spot,” said Ved Prakash, inspector, DLF Phase 1 police station.