Class 10 student bumps off 10-year-old boy

A 10-year-old boy, who had gone missing on Saturday, was found murdered by a class 10 student at Uppladi in Kota village, Kundapura taluk here, on Monday.

According to Superintendent of Police K Annamalai, the 16-year-old boy studying in class 10 had confessed to committing the crime and revealed the whereabouts of the body which was found in a nearby well. The suspect also confessed to committing petty crimes in Bengaluru, he said.

The police said the victim had gone out to play in the neighbourhood with the suspect at around 4.30 pm on Saturday but didn’t return home. When his family and neighbours enquired with the suspect, he told them the victim had left for home after they played and had snacks, the police added.

The local residents, along with the police, had searched for the boy till late into the night, including the forest area near Amritheshwari temple in Kota.

The suspect, meanwhile, left for Shivamogga on Sunday, after which the police grew suspicious and enquired with his uncle. On Monday morning, he returned from Shivamogga and took an autorickshaw home, the police said.

Little did he know the police had alerted all the auto drivers in the area to look out for the boy. He was handed over to the police on Monday morning.

The suspect then reportedly confessed saying a fight had broken out between them after the victim went to his house, the police said.

The suspect had slapped the victim and banged his head against a pole. He then dumped the body in a well.

Advocate Bannadi Somanth Hedge from Kota said the suspect had a criminal record when he was staying with his parents in Bengaluru. He was shifted to his uncle’s house in Kota during this academic year.

The victim’s father had died about six months ago and the mother is bedridden as she is paralysed.

His elder brother, who is doing his PUC, looks after the house, the police said.