A 16-year-old boy was found dead under mysterious circumstances on the roof of his house in Malda district on Thursday.

An improvised seven mm pistol was recovered from the spot where the Class VIII student was found dead.

Police officers who visited the spot suspect that he had shot himself in the head. They are trying to find out how the boy got the firearm with ammunition.

The boy’s mother said she had gone to drop her daughter off at the school when the incident occurred.

“My husband was not at home either. The neighbours told me that they had heard the sound of a gunshot from our house. When I reached home, I found my son lying
on the roof. There was an injury mark in his head,” she said.

Neighbours rushed the boy to a rural hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.

The investigators said they were trying to know the source of the firearm found near the body.

“Whether the boy fired at himself to commit suicide or he was shot by someone else is being investigated,” said an officer.