4 days on, mystery still surrounds death of 12-year-old boy in Paderu

ASR district: The death of a 12-year-old-boy, Pangi Naveen, is still a mystery for the cops. Naveen was found lifeless under suspicious circumstances near the compound of his school at Paderu in ASR district on Wednesday evening.

While Naveen's father Mahendra alleged that his son was murdered by some unidentified persons, the police said the investigation is underway.

Naveen was a class VII student of Government Tribal Welfare Ashram School for Boys in Lochaliputtu locality under Paderu mandal. He was from Surlapalem village under G Madugula mandal. The boy was found dead at an isolated place near Cinema Hall Centre in Paderu.

His family and relatives alleged that the school authorities (head teacher and warden) are responsible for his death and have demanded action against the duo. Leaders and activists of various students' organisations staged protests demanding action against those responsible for the boy's death and justice for his family.

Initially, they weren't allowed to conduct a post-mortem on his body. After hours of negotiations with the authorities of various departments, Naveen's parents agreed to a post-mortem. The district administration agreed to pay a compensation of Rs. 1 lakh to the family and said it will explore the possibilities to provide employment to one of the members of the boy's family. The post-mortem and cremation were completed on Friday evening.

There were some reports that the boy had gone to his uncle's room in Paderu and he ended his life. It is being alleged that suspecting he may land in trouble, the uncle dumped the body at an isolated place.

Paderu inspector B. Sudhakar said they are questioning some people in connection with the case to get a clear picture of the incident. "We are also waiting for the autopsy report to speed up the investigation. At this moment, it is very difficult to conclude the reasons for his death," he added.

The police have registered a case under section 174 of CrPC (suspicious death) and further investigation is underway.