Man kills 9-year-old stepson, throws body in forest; arrested with friend

Akola: A man allegedly strangulated his nine-year-old son to death and stuffed his body in a gunny bag before dumping it in a forest area in Akola district of Maharashtra, police said on Thursday.

The crime was committed early on Wednesday, the police said, adding that they recovered the body hours later and arrested the accused, Akash Kanherkar (38) along with his friend Gaurav Gaigole (36).

The victim, Darshan Palaskar, lived with his mother and stepfather Kanherkar. On Wednesday, his mother approached the police and filed a missing person's report around 8.30 am, stating that her son was nowhere to be found, a police official said.

"Soon after the police launched an investigation, they zeroed in on the boy's stepfather as Darshan was seen walking with him in the CCTV footage. The police took him into custody and he confessed to the crime during the interrogation," Sub-Divisional Police Officer Anmol Mittal said.

Kanherkar told the investigators that he took Darshan to a forest area on a two-wheeler with his friend and strangled him, he said.

After this information, the police launched efforts to recover the body, and it was found dumped in the forest area near Chichona village in Anjangaon taluka in a gunnybag, he added.

Sixty police personnel and seven officers were involved in the search operation that lasted 12 hours. The body was sent to the Akola government hospital for autopsy, Mittal said, adding that the motive behind the crime is being investigated.