In a tragic turn of events, an eight-year-old girl who went missing in Agra was found dead, prompting a police investigation into the absconding tenant suspected of murder.
The body of an eight-year-old girl, who went missing from outside her house, was found inside a flour drum kept inside a tenant's room here, police said on Thursday.
The incident occurred in Siddharth Nagar in the Tajganj area, when the girl, a Class 1 student and daughter of a shoe factory owner, had gone missing on Tuesday afternoon.
According to police, the girl was at home around 2 pm when she went out to play after some children came to call her.
Her family initially believed she had gone for tuition, but when she did not return by around 4.30 pm, they launched a search and later informed the police.
CCTV footage showed the girl purchasing a packet of chips from a nearby shop around the time she went missing. Police formed multiple teams and conducted searches in the area, including the rooftops of several houses.
During the investigation, family members informed police about a tenant, Sunil, who lived on the first floor of the house. He and his mother had been missing since Tuesday evening.
Police broke open the tenant's room on Wednesday night and found the girl's body concealed inside a flour drum kept in a sack, officials said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (City) Syed Ali Abbas said the girl was killed and her body was hidden in the drum.
"The accused tenant is absconding, and teams have been formed to trace him," he said, adding that prima facie it appears the girl was strangulated.
The body has been sent for postmortem, and further investigation is underway, police said.
Following the incident, angry locals staged a protest and blocked Fatehabad Road, and also attempted to damage vehicles by pelting stones, officials added.