Child’s body found with rope around neck in Nalanda village

Patna: Body of an eight-year-old boy, with a rope tied around its neck, was found in Nalanda district on Tuesday morning. The incident triggered protests by local people. The deceased was identified as Ankit Kumar, son of Niranjan Kumar.The incident occurred in Kalyanpur Khazana Khandha in Darriya Bigha village under Chandi police station area.The boy was missing since Monday evening. According to family members, Ankit left home around 4.30pm on Monday to play after his mother went to the market. He returned home briefly before leaving again at 5pm, but he did not come back until late night. The family members reported a missing complaint at the police station.On Tuesday morning, villagers out for a walk, found the body of the child on the roadside in the village, with a rope tied around its neck. Enraged family members and villagers blocked Karauta-Rajgir Highway-78 to protest the killing, demanding immediate arrest of the culprits.Police sent the body for a postmortem. A dog squad and Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team reached the crime spot to gather evidence.Shailja, DSP-I of Hilsa, who also rushed to the spot, said an investigation was being conducted from all angles, however, the motive behind the killing was still unclear.“The family alleged that the boy’s father, Niranjan, had an illicit relationship with a woman and she threatened to kill his son. Authorities are trying to quiz the woman, which will be crucial to solving the case,” she said.The victim’s uncle, Manish Kumar, accused the woman with whom Niranjan had an old extramarital affair, of committing the murder. According to Manish, the woman blackmailed Niranjan for money after learning he was married and had a son.Chandi SHO Suman Kumar said, prima facie it appeared that the child was strangulated. “There are several marks on his neck,” he said.He told this reporter that the victim’s father, Niranjan, worked as a driver in Patna and came in contact with a woman in Barh sub-division of Patna about 10 months back. “They had an affair and about two days back, Niranjan shared an intimate video of him with the woman. The woman threatened him with dire consequences,” Kumar said.