The Sri Sathya Sai District police in Andhra Pradesh have made a significant arrest in a distressing case involving a young child. Authorities have taken a 40-year-old man into custody for the alleged kidnapping and murder of a five-year-old boy from Garikapalli village in Talupula mandal.
From Missing Person to Murder Investigation
The case began on November 26 when the child, identified as Kommera Harshavardhan, was reported missing. According to Kadiri DSP Shiva Narayana Swamy, the incident was initially treated as a missing-child case. However, the investigation took a grim turn when the boy's body was discovered in a forested area near Marrikommadinne in Nambulapulakunta mandal.
This discovery prompted police to alter the charges. The case sections were changed to kidnapping and homicide under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, reflecting the severity of the crime.
Deceptive Acts and a Calculated Crime
The accused, identified as Thammuthaka Prasad, was known to the victim's family. Police revealed that Prasad had been visiting the family frequently for about two months and had grown close to the child.
On the day of the incident, around 11 am, Prasad visited the family home. He persuaded the boy's mother, Chandrakala, to call her son from the nearby Anganwadi centre. Prasad then took the child on his motorcycle for a ride around the village and dropped him back home around noon.
In a deceptive move, Prasad gave the boy ₹20 to buy snacks and told the family he was leaving, instructing them to prevent the child from following him. Shortly after, the child went missing. Despite frantic searches by the mother and sister, the boy could not be located.
Chandrakala called Prasad twice, but he claimed ignorance and stated he was on his way to Nambulapulakunta. In a further act of deception, Prasad returned to the village around 3 pm and pretended to assist in the search efforts before leaving again.
The boy's father, Kommera Gangadhar, formally lodged a missing complaint at 6 pm, which triggered the police probe.
Motive and the Tragic Outcome
Investigations uncovered a chilling motive behind the crime. Police stated that Prasad's actions stemmed from a personal grudge against the child's father. Prasad's own son is suffering from blood cancer, and he reportedly harbored resentment because he felt Gangadhar had made insensitive remarks and failed to help mediate marital issues between Prasad and his wife.
Acting on this grudge, Prasad allegedly picked up the boy again around 12:30 pm. He took the child nearly 25 km away into a forest. There, around 2 pm, he is accused of strangling the boy to death and abandoning the body.
In the early hours of November 27, police search teams located the child's body. It was found approximately 200 metres off the Marrikommadinne–Jaukula road in the Nambulapulakunta area.
The arrest of Thammuthaka Prasad brings a measure of progress in a case that has shocked the local community. The police investigation continues as they build a formal case under the new legal provisions.
