2-year-old Mumbai boy strangled, found wrapped in plastic bag

Mumbai city news: The boy went missing after he stepped out to play with a relative

A two-year-old boy’s body was found wrapped in a plastic bag in a chawl in Malad (West) on Tuesday morning. Police said he was strangulated.

The boy Vivaan Kandu was last seen with a relative, who claimed that she had dropped him near his house. (HT)

Vivaan Kandu went missing after he stepped outside to play with a relative near his house in Kanchpada area in Malad around 6 pm on Monday. He was last seen with the relative, who claimed that she had dropped him near his place. The boy’s body was found outside that relative’s house.

Vivaan lived with his parents and an elder brother Aayush, 5. His father runs a general store. On Monday evening, after his parents Sandeep and Soni could not find him despite looking for him for hours, they filed a complaint at Malad police station. A case of kidnapping was registered and a team was formed to look for the boy. The Mumbai police dog squad was pulled in the search and they scoured the locality but they didn’t find the boy until morning.

Local residents said at 3.45am on Tuesday, a sweeper saw a white plastic bag outside Vivaan’s relative’s house, which is a minute away from his house. Upon checking the bag, the sweeper saw the boy’s body and immediately called the cops. “The boy’s pants were soiled and there was a dark mark around his neck. We immediately told the police,” said a neighbour of Kandu family.

The police suspect personal enmity as the motive behind the murder and are questioning Vivaan’s relatives. Officials said no arrest has been made and all leads were being probed. “After finding the body, we registered a case of murder and sent his body for autopsy. We are probing all possible angles,” said Vikram Deshmane, deputy commissioner of police, zone XI.

Meanwhile, the situation in Kanchpada chawl remained tense as locals were worried for their safety.