Malda, June 4: Police yesterday recovered the body of a 12-year-old from a cornfield where he had been murdered and buried five days ago by his friend on Bhutni island.

Mithun Mondal, the slain cowhand, had met Bijoy Mondal almost a year ago in the fields where he took his herd of cows to graze. According to other cowhands, Bijoy and Mithun were often seen together.

On May 31, Mithun’s father lodged a complaint with the Manikchak police station reporting his son missing. A search launched by his family members yielded no results. As the villagers of Boro Kartiktolla hunted for Mithun, Bijoy was also nowhere to be found.

Other cowhands reported that Mithun was seen with him on the day he went missing. Convinced that Bijoy had murdered Mithun the villagers waited for him to return. And return he did after two days.

On his arrival, Bijoy was grilled by the villagers who threatened to hand him over to the police.

After initially denying the charges, the teenager confessed that he had murdered his mate for the cows. On the evening of May 31, Bijoy throttled Mithun and buried him in the field. Later in the night, he dug up the body and dragged it to another cornfield. The body was put into a sack and buried again.To avoid suspicion Bijoy went away from the village for a day or two.

According to him, the murder plan was hatched long ago. He had even fixed up a broker to sell Mithun’s cows.

Bijoy also had a past record of petty crimes, such as stealing chickens from neighbours, said the Manikchalk police.

“It was Bijay who led us to the spot and dug out the body. There was no sign of repentance on his face,” said deputy magistrate Pritish Sarkar.