BHOPAL: The body of a seven-year-old boy who had gone out for riding his bicycle was found lying in bushes in Dronanchal campus near Parmeshwar pond in Bhopal's Nishatpura area in the wee hours of Thursday.
His body was spotted by his mother and maternal uncle when they were searching for him. His body was partially eaten by some animal and stray dogs were seen eating his flesh when his family members reached the spot.
After receiving the information, Army personnel and Nishatpura police reached the spot and registered a case.
It was not clear yet whether the boy was killed by a wild animal or stray dogs. Police were waiting for the autopsy report to ascertain the cause of death and the animal which killed the minor.
Investigation officer ASI Chhatrapal Singh said that the deceased, Ritik Bhamore, resided in the servant quarter in Dronanchal campus along with his mother Preeti Bhamore and his 4-year-old brother. The family hails from Singot village in Pandhana tehsil in Khandwa district and his father Bheema Tadvi is staying there for the past one-and-a-half-years. Preeti along with her kids reside in a servant quarter while her family members including her brother Mahesh reside in other servant quarters in the campus. Preeti and her relatives work as domestic helps in the houses of Army officers.
ASI Singh said that Preeti works at an Army Major's house and Ritik studied in school earlier but dropped off after lockdown.
He added that daily, Ritik used to go out to ride his bicycle at night. He would ride his bicycle in Dronanchal campus till midnight daily. As per his habit, he went out for cycling around 10pm on Wednesday night. He did not return till midnight but Preeti thought that he might be cycling in the campus. When Ritik did not return till 4am on Thursday, Preeti alerted Mahesh and went out to look for him. The campus is very big and soon they found Ritik's bicycle on a road in Parmeshwar Pond area. When they went to search in the bushes, they found stray dogs eating away minor's body. They hushed the dogs away and called the Army men patrolling near the area.
Singh further said that acting on information, Nishatpura police reached the spot and recovered the boy's partially eaten body. The boy's left leg, left ear and right calf were missing while a portion of his waist was eaten by the animals. Left leg bone was found lying at the spot.
The official further added that it is suspected that either the stray dogs or any wild animal killed the boy and ate his body parts. Police have sent the body for post-mortem and the actual cause of death and the animal which killed him would be clear after receiving the report.
