Four days after the body of Rick Nath was fished out from the septic pit of the Bose home in Behala, three residents of the area turned up before a magistrate in Alipore Court and recorded their statements.

They confirmed having last seen the five-year-old entering the house of Bela Bose on Thursday. All three are residents of Sadhan Hari Mukherjee Road, where the two families live, and are now key witnesses for police probing the case that began with a missing boy and ended with his murder and the principal accused, Bela Bose, being burnt alive.

A hunt has also been launched for three others alleged to have played a key role in inciting the mob to vandalise the Bose address and then beating up and finally torching Bela and her husband Rabindra Nath, who escaped with injuries.

The three witnesses were escorted to the court on Tuesday morning and taken into a chamber, from where each turned up before the magistrate and made statements in a closed room, under section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code.

Police claimed two more neighbours of the Naths would record their statements on Wednesday. ?Since all of them made their statements in private, there is nothing to be disclosed,? said S.N. Gupta, superintendent of police, South 24-Parganas.

Police sources, however, said one of the witnesses narrated how he had seen the boy that morning while his wife was taking his daughter to school. ?My wife even fondled his cheeks when Rick went running past her into the house of Bela Bose. That was around 10.35 am,? the neighbour recounted.

Others also recounted having last seen Rick entering the house from where his body was recovered some 14 hours later. The statements would reach police from the magistrate a few days later, in a sealed envelope.

Tuesday also saw officers in plain clothes scanning the locality trying to gather information about the trio accused of instigating the mob violence. They had, apparently, left the area soon after Bela was burnt to death.

?We have started a separate case against them and a few others under a string of charges including rioting, arson and murder. All of the accused were responsible for what happened to Bela,? Gupta said.