Maharashtra: Police crack murder of 4-yr-old; two arrested

Palghar: Palghar police in Maharashtra claimed to have cracked the case of the killing of a four-year-old boy earlier this month with the arrest of two persons.

The child, Shailesh Gautam, was kidnapped from near his home in Vasai township here on December 3. His decomposed body was found three days later in a dilapidated building nearby, police spokesperson Hemant Katkar said.

During the probe in the case, the police zeroed-in on two tenants of the victim's family - Jangilal Harijan (22) and Mohammad Imran alias Arman Mohammad Chand Shaikh (24) - who was thrown out of the house for not paying the rent, he said.

Katkar said the accused, both also natives of Vasai, allegedly kidnapped the child and then killed him to take revenge from his father for throwing them out of the house.

The accused were nabbed on Sunday night from Mahim area in neighbouring Mumbai and booked Indian Penal Code Sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing the disappearance of evidence of offense), 363 (kidnapping) and 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), he said.

Shaikh already has several criminal cases registered against him, he added.