The father of the three-year-old boy whose body was exhumed last week from a burial ground following a murder complaint by his grandmother, was arrested on Saturday night for allegedly killing his son.
Police identified the accused as Bijoy Boral.
The police said they were yet to get the post-mortem report, but according to the preliminary findings shared with the police, the child had injuries on his head. The cops are still in the dark about the motive of the alleged murder.
Rohan Mondal, 3, died in his Nonadanga home last Sunday and was buried at the burial ground, the police said.
Two days after the death, the child’s maternal grandmother, who lives in a village in South 24-Parganas district, lodged a complaint against her son-in-law alleging that he killed his child.
Based on the woman’s complaint, officers of Anandapur police station started a murder case against the father and submitted a prayer in court for permission to exhume the child’s body for post-mortem.
“The boy’s father had told the neighbours that his son had died after falling into a bucketful of water. He had said his wife was not at home then and he was busy with some work at home,” said an officer at Lalbazar.
“He admitted that he had lied during a prolonged interrogation after his arrest.”
A senior officer said Boral had confessed before the cops that he had kept a bucket filled with water near the commode to try and establish his claim that the child had accidentally drowned.
He also apparently told the cops that he had covered Rohan with a blanket to give the impression to his neighbours that he was trying to restore the child’s breathing after he drowned.
“We also found that he paid Rs 500 to a local doctor for a death certificate that said bronchial problems because of drowning in shallow water caused the boy’s death,” the officer said.
“The father fled the house soon after Rohan’s grandmother lodged a complaint with Anandapur police station.”
The police said the sequence of events leading to Rohan’s death was yet to be ascertained. An investigator said they were verifying Boral’s statements.
“We have arrested Boral under the charges of murder and criminal conspiracy. The exact cause of the death is yet to be known,” said a senior officer.