The body of a five-year-old girl, who was abducted by a migrant labourer on Friday evening, was found murdered near the garbage dump in Aluva market, wrapped in a gunny bag and covered with stones, on Saturday afternoon.

The police found the body of the girl almost 20 hours after she went missing. One, Asfaq Alam, has been arrested after identifying him in CCTV footage. The police suspect the involvement of more persons in the crime.

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A Special Investigation Team led by Aluva DySP will probe the case.

The police said a post-mortem report of the body confirmed that the girl had been sexually abused and that she suffered severe injuries on her face, head and genitals.

Chandni, daughter of Neethikumari and Manjay Kumar Tiwari, natives of Gopal Gunj of Bihar, who were living in a rented house near Thayikattukara Garage Railway gate in Aluva, was abducted by Asfaq Alam, a native of Assam from her house around 3.30 pm on Friday. It was found that Asfaq Alam had taken the child to a shop and given her some juice after which he boarded a bus along with the child.

Alam initially told the police that he had handed over the child to a man identified as Zaheer. However, further investigation disclosed that his statement was false, and the accused later confessed to the crime. Around 1 pm on Saturday, the dead body was found near the Aluva market where the garbage is deposited.

Opposition Leader V D Satheesan alleged “criminal negligence” on the part of the police in tracing the girl even though she was in Aluva itself. “The girl was within the limits of the Aluva police station. Yet the police could not go around and conduct an investigation to trace the girl. This is not an isolated incident. The police failed miserably,” Satheesan said

The KPCC president alleged that the police did not show due diligence in probing the case. The Police didn’t move swiftly to trace the girl.