Malappuram: In a gruesome case, a 9-year-old boy was pushed into a swollen river by his paternal uncle at Edayattoor here after a failed ransom bid.
The police have taken the man into custody over the murder of the boy. The deceased has been identified as Muhammad Shaheen, 9.
The boy had gone missing from Edayattoor in Malappuram on August 13 and was killed the same night after his uncle panicked seeing social media alerts about the boy going missing. The suspect ostensibly pushed him into the river.
The suspect admitted to the cops that he had picked up his nephew from near his school to extract a ransom
The accused tricked the boy into accompanying him to Anakkayam. CCTV visuals showed. Once there he allegedly pushed the boy into the swollen Kadalundi river from atop the Anakkayam bridge.
Police zeroed in on the accused after scanning 20 CCTV cameras in the vicinity of the crime spot.
The accused reportedly wanted to extract a share of the 3 kg gold that was in the custody of Shaheen's father.
Shaheen's school uniform and bag were later found 16 km away, near his ancestral house and the police were expecting to find the boy alive when the news broke.
The police have initiated a search for the boy's body, though the chances of recovering it remain bleak.
Shaheen is the son of Abdul Salam and Haseena, residents of Mankarathodi at Edayattoor.
