A couple from Bihar has been living in Kerala for the past 8 years. On July 28, their 5-year-old daughter went missing from the house. Later they found that Ashfaq Alam who stayed in the same building as the girl’s family near Garage Junction in Kochi has abducted her. While tracking the duo police nabbed Alam and the dead body of the minor girl stuffed in a sack.
“We have found a dead body at a stranded place in Aluva market. And we have matched the body to the missing child. An inquest has been finished. The child’s body was taken to Kalamassery medical college for post-mortem. Further investigations are underway,” said police.
In connection with the incident, Aslam was taken into custody on Friday evening by the police. The police said CCTV visuals show the suspect kidnapping the girl. As per the reports, Alam is a native of Assam.
The daughter of a migrant couple from Bihar residing near Choornikara went missing on July 28 around 3.30 PM. She was a Class I student of Thayikkattukara upper primary school.
Ernakulam Rural SP, Vivek Kumar told the media, “An FIR was registered at 8 PM on Friday and within an hour, we found the accused. He was in an inebriated state and it was difficult to get details from him.”
Kumar said that after a whole night of interrogation, Alam confessed and accepted committing the crime. He also told them that, after abducting the minor he handed over the girl to Zakir. Later, police took him to the flyover where he handed over the minor to Zakir. Police also detained him but no exchange of money took place between them, to justify the trafficking angle, says a report.
He then said that locals informed seeing Alam with the minor girl near Aluva market and the police rushed to the spot. After searching the area with the locals, the police found the girl’s body.
The accused abducted the child from near the railway gate at Thaikkattukara on July 28 afternoon. CCTV footage showed the suspect crossing the highway with the child and boarding a bus to Thrissur, said police.
A local trader told the media, “I asked him who the girl was. He claimed that it was his child and said he was going behind the market area to drink alcohol. However, today morning I saw the CCTV visuals of the missing child and Aslam on social media and informed the police.”
Reports claim that the area where this incident took place was used by anti-social elements for gambling and drug consumption.
Sections 363 (kidnapping), 302 (murder) of the IPC will be added after post-mortem, said police.
The girl’s family is from Bihar and her parents are migrant workers settled in Kerala for the last 8 years. She is survived by her father, mother, elder sister and younger brother.
Aluva MLA Anwar Sadat demanded a thorough investigation in the case. As of now, both Alam and Zakir are hiding a lot of stuff and the police is interrogating them.
