Ghaziabad: Parents search-for missing 4-year-old as his body rots near-home
In a disturbing case, the partially-decomposed body of a four-year-old, who went missing in 2016, was recovered from a box on his neighbor's terrace yesterday in Ghaziabad's Sahibabad. His parents had received numerous ransom-calls from 'kidnappers.' Two men were arrested, but they never revealed the boy's whereabouts. The body was found by the victim's eight-year-old brother, who informed his family about the "scary doll."
Zaid had disappeared while playing outside his house
Mohammad Zaid was four when he vanished on December 1, 2016, from outside his Shamshad Garden house. He was in his school uniform. On December 12, his father Nazar Mohammad, owner of a local salon, received the first ransom call for Rs. 8L. Forty-five more calls followed. Though the kidnappers made him talk to 'Zaid,' he suspected it was some other child, but complied.
Police nabbed the 'kidnappers,' but they had nothing to say
On December 17, on police's instructions, Nazar went to the Ballabgarh railway station, as asked by the 'kidnappers,' with the money. Two men, later identified as Irfan and Aftab, arrived. One was nabbed immediately, while the other was caught two days later. But they never revealed Zaid's whereabouts to either police or Nazar when he approached them. Police kept assuring him investigations were on.
The "scary doll" was first seen by Zaid's eight-year-old brother
Friday, Zaid's eight-year-old brother Junaid reached their neighbor Mohammad Momeen's rooftop to fetch a ball. He saw the box, then rushed to tell his family about the "scary doll" inside it, but no one took him seriously and asked him to bring photos. He did, but still, no one looked at them. It was yesterday when they finally saw them and were left shocked.
The box was placed there a month before Zaid's disappearance
They found Zaid's body in his school uniform, curled up inside. Momeen, the family's neighbor for over 15 years, said the box belonged to him. He had put it there, sealed, one month before Zaid disappeared, and never opened it since. It didn't appear to have been moved from its location, he added. Zaid, the fifth of six siblings, was studying at Happy Public School.
Cops, under fire for shoddy probe, will conduct DNA tests
The case has raised questions on the police's investigations, who had insisted Zaid had been abducted and he couldn't be traced. Cops have said they will now conduct DNA testing on the body to verify his identify. Irfan and Aftab will be questioned.
