VIJAYAWADA: An eight-year-old inmate of a BC welfare hostel in Challapalli Mandal of Krishna district was found dead near a bathroom door on the premises on Tuesday morning. The boy’s throat was slit with a sharp-edged weapon, said police, who are suspecting the involvement of the victim’s relatives and another hostel inmate in the crime. Dasari Adithya, a Class 3 student, was found lying in a pool of blood by his friends around 6.30 am, who then alerted the hostel staff.
According to Additional SP Moka Sattibabu, the eight-year-old finished his dinner around 9 pm on Monday and went to his room with his cousin Ashok (11). That was the last time when Adithya was seen alive and was found near the bathroom the next morning, he said.
Adithya’s father, Ravindra, ran a flower shop near a temple, while mother Adilakshmi sold human hair offered in the same temple. The police said financial disputes between Ravindra and his brother Venu might be the reason behind the killing.
Sources in the police added they were suspecting the involvement of a 14-year-old–a Class 8 student of a nearby government school, who had a petty argument with Adithya a few days ago. The minor suspect did not regularly reside in the hostel but was on the premises on Tuesday morning, the police stated. When contacted, Krishna SP M Ravindranath Babu said, “Based on the allegations levelled by the parents, three persons, including the uncle of the deceased and a hostel inmate, were taken into custody for questioning.”
Three taken into custody
A knife for chopping vegetable reportedly found from the boy’s room, along with sniffer dogs stopping there, made the police suspicious about the 14-year-old’s role in the crime. Meanwhile, Collector A Md Imtiaz has ordered for an inquiry into the incident and suspended hostel warden PV Ramaraju and watchman Nagaraju. BC Welfare Hostel Deputy Director IR Bhargavi also assured of action against the hostel staff if found guilty of negligence. The body was shifted to Avanigadda government hospital for postmortem and later handed over to the parents. A case was registered and four teams were formed to nab the accused.