Days after killing 6-year-old boy, accused held

Thane, Jul 26 (PTI) Five days after a six-year-old boy was allegedly strangulated to death at Bhiwandi in Maharashtra's Thane district, police on Friday arrested a man from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in connection with his murder, an official said.

According to police, the 22-year-old accused, Amol Bhaidas Chavan, had indulged in an indecent act with a woman and beat her up in front of the minor victim, identified as Sudhir Pawar, following which the latter threatened to report it to his mother. This annoyed the accused and he strangled the minor.

The incident occurred on July 21 at Highway Dive village in Bhiwandi taluka of the district.

"The accused indulged in an indecent act with the woman and also thrashed her on the terrace of a building. The boy, who was a relative of the woman, was present there. He told the man that he would tell his mother about his act. Annoyed, the accused strangled the child," senior inspector Bharat Kamath of the Narpoli police station said.

The minor was later rushed to Kalwa Civil Hospital, where he was declared dead. A case of accidental death was registered after that, he said.

"However, his autopsy confirmed that the boy was strangulated to death as strangulation marks were found on his neck. When the boy's father told the investigators that he did not have any enmity with anyone. But during the probe, the police found that Chavan went untraceable and his phone was also switched off," he said.

Based on the call data records and other technical inputs, the police tracked down the accused and nabbed him from Hiwarkheda village in Kannad taluka of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, the official said.

A case of murder was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Narpoli police station, he said. PTI COR NP