Pradip Kumar Addi

Bokaro, Jan. 29: A 10-year-old boy, missing since yesterday, was found murdered this morning, plunging the nearby town of Chas in grief and then unleashing a wave of anger with residents blocking NH-33 to demand justice.

Pradip Kumar Addi, a class V student of SEPS English School, was last seen around 1 pm, when he left home to run an errand for his mother. His mutilated body was found this morning near Charguddi forest at Pindrajora, about 28km from Bokaro steel city.

His father, Ganesh Kumar Addi, an electric heater manufacturer from Teldih, said he suspected a neighbour against whom he had filed a case over a land dispute and sought a thorough enquiry by the CID into the murder.

According to the police, Pradip, youngest of three siblings, was apparently kidnapped and taken to the isolated stretch near Bengal’s Purulia district and killed.

After he returned from school yesterday, his mother asked him to fetch samosas and sweets for guests who were to arrive later. Pradip ventured out on his bicycle at 1pm.

When his son failed to return home, Ganesh lodged a complaint with the Chas police station around 9.30pm.

Passersby found the body near the highway at Pindrajora this morning and alerted the police. A team of policemen arrived at the spot around 10am with Ganesh, who identified his son. The body was returned to the family this evening after a post-mortem.

Around 6.30pm, nearly 900 local residents blocked NH-23, which connects the district to Dhanbad, leading to a massive traffic jam. Standing alongside a weeping Ganesh who was carrying his son’s body, the crowd protested against the murder and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.

The protesters also shouted slogans against the police, blaming them for failing to act quickly enough.

Inspector of Chas police station N.S. Gautam said the police had begun investigations after recording the statement of Ganesh, and that a team had been sent to the site where the body was recovered to look for possible clues.

Pradip’s bicycle has not been found so far. The police suspect he was whisked away on a four-wheeler.