In a tragic incident, a small girl of a poor family was found dead on Tuesday morning in a pond near her house at Gopalmal under the Ainthapli police station. locals suspected it to be a case of kidnap and murder but were unable to ascertain any reason.
Three-and-a-half-year-old Puja Ram, daughter of Mahesh Ram, had gone to bed . “At about 3 am when I woke up, Puja was not on her bed,” said mother laxmi. “We searched for a while. When we failed to trace her, we informed police.”
Puja’s father is a mason, her mother maidservant working in the houses of the neighbours and they stay in a rented house at Gopalmal. The condition of house is such that one can enter easily into it through the tin-made door even if it is locked.
Puja was reading in the local Anganwadi Centre. “We’ll soon nab the culprit. We are waiting for the postmortem report on the girl’s,” said IIC of Ainthapali police station PK Patnaik.