14-Year-Old Boy Found Dead In Drain

Kolkata: The body of a 14-year-old boy, who was missing since Wednesday, was recovered from a drain in Alifnagar area of Garden Reach in Kolkata late Thursday. A local shopowner, running a kite shop, was arrested on Friday.

Police said some passersby spotted the body lying upside down in a narrow drain and called the police. According to locals, the hands and legs of the deceased, Mohammed Zeeshan, were found tied with kite strings. The body was reportedly recovered from a drain near the house of the kite shopowner, Pappu.

Speaking to mediapersons on Friday, Zeeshan’s mother claimed that Pappu, at whose shop the deceased used to work, had earlier threatened to kill her son. “Pappu had accused my son of stealing kites from his shop and used to raise his voice at Zeeshan in public,” she said.

She added that on Wednesday, Zeeshan had left the house with his two friends in the evening and did not return. Zeeshan reportedly used to work in Pappu’s shop for pocket money and had gone with his friends to collect the same on Wednesday.

Police said Zeeshan’s family had first lodged a missing report at Garden Reach police station. After the body was recovered, his father Mohammed Toshim lodged a murder complaint.

When asked, DC (Port) Sudip Sarkar said the body was recovered at 8.30 PM on Thursday. “We are waiting for the postmortem report to know the exact cause of death. Prima facie, it looks like the boy fell in the drain from a height.”

Sources said police have recovered a few sticks, used to make kites, from Zeeshan’s possession. “If it is a case of murder, the motive is still not clear… We are investigating the matter from all possible angle, It is too early to come to any conclusion,” a senior police officer said.