ROURKELA: Tension flared up in Bondamunda area here after the body of a missing six-year-old boy was found in an under-construction septic tank on Thursday morning.
The deceased was identified as Arab Singh, a resident of Champagarh under Bondamunda police limits. Arab reportedly went missing on Wednesday night. After the recovery of the kid’s body, angry residents blocked the Bondamunda main road in the evening demanding proper investigation to ascertain if any foul play was involved in the death.
BJP’s Bondamunda circle president Lakhan Lohar, who joined the protest, said the boy was last seen at around 8.30 pm on Wednesday when a procession was underway for immersion of Lord Ganesh idol. Unable to find Arab, his parents launched a search but could not trace him. On Thursday morning, his parents continued their search and found his body in the under-construction septic tank in front of their house.
Lohar said the boy was immediately rushed to Apollo Hospital at Sector-19 where he was declared brought dead. Arab’s parents suspect that their son may have been murdered and his body disposed of in the septic tank. He said the septic tank was being constructed by the boy’s neighbour and it was barricaded with a few bamboos and a plastic sheet.
On being informed about the road blockade, Bondamunda police rushed to the protest site and held discussion with the locals. The blockade was lifted after police assured the agitators of proper investigation.
Police said preliminary inquiry suggested that the boy drowned accidentally. Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani said prima facie, it appeared to be a case of accidental drowning. The boy’s body bore no external injury mark. Police registered an unnatural death case and sent the body for postmortem. The exact reason of death will be ascertained after the autopsy report arrives, he added.