VIJAYAWADA: Police on Wednesday arrested a 14-year-old in connection with the murder of Dasari Adithya, an eight-year-old inmate of a BC welfare hostel in Challapalli town of Krishna district. The accused is also a resident of the same hostel, the police, who solved the case within 24 hours of the offence, said.
The accused, a Class 10 student, had conspired to kill Adithya after the latter allegedly abused him over a petty issue while washing clothes in the hostel, police said, adding he also figured out a plan to escape from the police.
Adithya was found murdered near the bathroom, and his mother Adi Lakshmi suspected involvement of her brother-in-law Venu in the crime. During the primary investigation, the police were able to recover the weapon used in committing the offence from the boy’s room. Krishna Superintendent of Police (SP) M Ravindranath Babu told media that Adithya had a quarrel with the 14-year-old boy on Sunday evening while washing clothes and even used abusive language. “The accused developed a grudge against Adithya and plotted a plan to eliminate him,’’ the SP said, adding on Monday night, the accused went to Adithya’s room and woke him up around 2 am.
The accused asked Adithya to accompany him to the washroom. When the boy came near the bathroom, the accused, after confirming that everyone in the hostel was asleep, strangled Adithya. To ensure that he did not survive, he slit Adithya’s throat with a sharp-edged knife that he had with him.
“The accused felt insulted after their conversation. He is sensitive and aggressive as well. Unable to bear the insult, he killed the eight-year-old and left the hostel immediately by jumping the wall. However, he returned on Tuesday morning and pretended to be innocent. When sniffer dogs stopped near his room, the weapon of crime was recovered from his shelf. He was then taken into custody,’’ Ravindranath Babu said.