Prakasam: Cops have cracked the murder case of a teenager in Andhra Pradesh's Prakasam district. According to district SP Malika Garg, 11-year-old Bhuma Srinath was a resident of Akkapalli in Komarolu Mandal. He was a Class 6 student at the Taticherla Motu school.
He returned from school on the 22 January and was playing near his house, when he mysteriously disappeared. After futile attempts at finding him, the boy's parents lodged a complaint at the Giddalur police station.
A missing case was registered and police launched an investigation with the involvement of special teams. Three days later, on the 25 January, locals found the body of a boy in a farm well in the suburb of Idakamallu. The boy's body, with a stone tied to his abdomen, was recovered by the police from the well.
According to a complaint lodged by the village revenue officer, the body was identified as Bhuma Srinath by the police.
How did police identify the accused?
"The accused Venkata Prashant Kumar is an army jawan. He has a habit of watching porn on the internet. He wanted to satisfy his sexual desire by watching porn on his mobile on January 22. He gave the child Rs. 100, got him on his bike and took him to a farm well on the left crossroads at about 8 pm," narrates SP Malika Garg.
When he tried sexually assaulting the boy, the boy started screaming, and not wanting to draw attention to the scene, Venkata strangled the boy to death. He then removed the boy's shirt to destroy evidence. Then he tied a six kilogram stone to the boy's waist and threw it into the well.
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The Army Jawan had come home on vacation. In the initial stages, when the child's parents were searching for the boy, the accused made a ploy to divert attention from himself.
He bought a SIM card with fake ID proof on the day of the murder and told the boy's family over the phone that he had kidnapped the child. He also demanded Rs 50 lakh. He sent a text message in this regard to the boy's uncle. He said, if the demanded amount was not paid, the boy will be killed.
The boy's relatives informed the police about the message and they launched an investigation. The accused was arrested on Jan 29, after his futile attempt at diversion.
