City teen found murdered; pals suspected

Bangalore, March 28: The mutilated body of a 13-year-old boy was recovered from the foothills of Hanumagiri hill at Ittamadu here on Tuesday morning.

The Subramanyapura police have zeroed in on four boys from a nearby slum as suspects in the alleged murder of Abhishek, a class VIII student of Ittamadu Government High School. A case has been registered and the suspects are being questioned.

Abhishek went missing on Monday evening after appearing for his annual examination. Worried when he did not return even late at night, members of his family launched a search. On Tuesday morning, they contacted the boy with whom Abhishek was last seen.

Sources said by the time the family reached Hanumagiri hill, guided by the boy, police were already there trying to identify a naked body with 13 stab wounds on the forehead, eye and left part of the chest. It was identified as Abhishek’s.

The police immediately detained the boy who had led the family to the spot. Based on information from him, four more boys of the same age group were detained, two of them Abhishek’s classmates and others dropouts from a nearby slum.

The boys reportedly met Abhishek around 4.30 pm on Monday and asked him to join them for a swim in a pond on the other side of Hanumagiri hill. It is alleged the boys were drunk and a brawl ensued amongthem. Abhishek is said to have hit them with a bat and chased them away. The group returned by late evening and took him away.

Michael Raj, a Parish Council member of a church on Hanumagiri Hill, spotted the boy’s body and reported it to the police. He said the incident might have occured between 12.30-1 am, as the neighbouring houses and the church watchman heard the street dogs barking. They ignored the commotion, presuming it to be a pack of dogs fighting, he said.