Darbhanga, Oct. 17: In the second recovery of its kind in the past three days, the body of an eight-year-old boy was fished out of a swamp at Banauli village under Simri police station today.

The parents managed to identify the swollen body from the clothes the boy was wearing when he went missing on October 12.

The boy has been identified as Dharmpal Shah, a resident of Banauli village under Simri police station.

The missing report was filed at Simri police station on October 13.

The swamp is barely 100m from Dharmpal’s residence from where his body was recovered.

Till last evening, no one could trace Dharmpal despite the best efforts of the police administration and the full co-operation of his family members.

Darbhanga senior superintendent of police, Vikas Vaibhav, told The Telegraph: “According to circumstances, it seems that Dharmpal died of drowning.

However, we had already registered a case of kidnapping in this connection. Investigations are on.”

He added: “We are probing all circumstances so that we could ascertain the cause behind the death. The body of Dharmpal has been sent to Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital for autopsy and its report will confirm whether he died of drowning or some other reason. Animals had nibbled at the body, making it difficult to recognise.”

Sources said the case of kidnapping was registered against unknown persons at Simri police station last week when Dharmpal did not return at home in the evening.

He hails from a farmer’s family, which had no enmity with anyone.

Last Saturday, the body of Mohammed Naseem (40) was recovered from a pond in Chandrabhati village near Simri police station.

The post-mortem report confirmed that the death due to drowning. Naseem’s motorcycle was found abandoned near the police station last Friday, making the residents suspicious of the police’s role in Naseem’s death.

The residents alleged that Naseem had died because of negligence on the part of some police personnel.

The protesters hurled stones and tried to torch the Dagarua police station, prompting the police to fire in the air.

The police had to face the wrath of the mob that prompted them to fire in the air. However, Dharmpal’s body was recovered from a swamp close to his residence.

The sources said the villagers were expressing doubt whether or not Dharmpal had been killed before drowning. They had searched him for the past four days but they failed to trace him till yesterday.

But they were waiting for the post-mortem report that could substantiate evidences in the mysterious case.