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Days after migrant worker's death, 2-year-old son's body found near Cooum river in Chennai
After tracing down CCTV footage, police have arrested five individuals while search operations for the worker's wife are still underway.
Days after the murder of a migrant worker from Bihar in Chennai, the victim's two year-old son has been found dead near the Cooum River in the city's Madhya Kailash area.
Gaurav Kumar, 24, was found dead with cut injuries on his head and face after residents noticed blood oozing from a sack near a popular two-wheeler showroom on Monday morning, ANI reported. His body was found stuffed inside a gunny bag in the Indira Nagar area in Adyar.
Following Gaurav's murder, his wife and child were reported missing, which prompted a search operation.
What had happened?
On Monday, local residents raised an alarm and alerted Adyar Police, after they noticed blood oozing from an abandoned gunny bag lying on the roadside near a popular two-wheeler showroom on First Avenue.
On further inspection, Gaurav's body was found stuffed inside the bag with severe cut injuries on the head and face. The body was sent to the Government Royapettah Hospital for post-mortem examination, ANI reported quoting police officials.
Police recovered a piece of paper from his trouser pocket which had phone numbers written. One of them led the police to a private security agency, which helped them identify him.
After Gaurav's body was identified, the case took a grim turn when his wife, Munita Kumari and son were also found missing and suspected to have been murdered.
Investigation
After Gaurav's death, the Chennai police had formed five special teams to identify the victim and trace the culprits.
CCTV footage from nearby areas showed two men arriving on a motorcycle, dumping the gunny bag at the spot, and fleeing. Using the motorcycle's registration number, police intensified the investigation.
Tracing down the footage, police detained seven people, including Gaurav's close friends for questioning. During interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed that Gaurav's wife and child had also been murdered. Police added that the confession awaited verification.
According to the police, five workers from Bihar have been arrested in connection to the murder, including a 33-year-old man Sikandar, 45-year-old Narender Kumar, 45-year-old Rabindranath Tagore, 24-year-old Bikas and one other.
With further investigation underway, police suspect that the murder was carried out by someone who was known to the victim.
Search for wife and son
Police formed special teams to look for Gaurav's missing wife and son.
On Wednesday, search operations were conducted across multiple locations across Chennai, including Adyar Canal Road, the banks of the Cooum River, Perungudi dump yard, and the Adyar estuary, as the teams tried to trace the bodies of the the woman and the child.
It was during the search, when the two-year-old boy's body was found near the Cooum River in Madhya Kailash.
Efforts are still underway to locate the woman's body, police said adding that they did not rule out the possibility of sexual assault before she went missing.
From Bihar to Tamil Nadu: Gaurav and his family
According to police officials, Gaurav was a native of Bihar.
The couple along with their two-year-old son had recently shifted to Chennai. As they looked for employment options, Gaurav secured a job as a security guard at a polytechnic college in Taramani where he resided with his family.
Munita, who could not find a job due to lack of vacancies, was asked to wait.
