Sambalpur: Two young boys who were feared kidnapped from Sunapali-Kamelpada village here Sunday were found dead with their bodies being spotted by villagers in a canal Tuesday morning.
Parveen Khan and Islam Khan, both aged 12 and studying in Class VI at the local Modern Public School, went missing Sunday night after going out on a bicycle ride. Family members lodged a kidnapping complaint after hours of searching for them proved futile. However, police did little to trace them resulting in the boys’ deaths, the families alleged.
While Parveen was found dead with blood oozing out of his nose, Islam’s body was found naked with severe injury marks to his head.
Sources said the two boys left home on a bicycle Sunday but never returned. Agitated family members searched for the boys in every possible location but failed to trace them. The next day, they lodged an FIR of kidnapping at Dhanupali police station but police allegedly did not take the complaint in seriousness. Family members even informed the police at Gengutipalli but no efforts were made to trace the two minors, Parveen’s father Firoz said.
Tension flared in the area after locals spotted the bodies floating in the Haradjor canal between Ainthapalli and Sindurapanka on the highway and informed the police, who rushed to the spot and seized the bodies. The families of the boys have alleged that the boys were murdered and their bodies dumped in the canal to destroy evidence.
Furious over the dismal police handling of the case, hundreds of irate locals blocked the highway for hours demanding swift arrest of the perpetrators of the ghastly crime. The road blockade threw traffic out of gear on the Ainthapali- Sindurapanka stretch as hundreds of vehicles were left stranded on both sides of the highway.
Protesters held up the ambulance carrying the bodies to the VSS Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) in Burla and refused to let it go.
Additional superintendent of police (ASP) Sushil Panigrahi, Sadar police IIC Sujata Panda, and Dhanupali IIC P Toppo rushed to the spot and attempted to placate the agitators. Some of the protesters pelted stones at police jeeps, breaking some windshields.
SP Akhileshwar Singh later reached the spot and assured the protesters of a swift investigation into the case. The protesters relented after Singh assured that the accused would be tracked down and arrested at the earliest if it turned out to be a case of murder. PNN
