THE body of 6-year-old Poonam Patel, who went missing from Janjgir Champa district on Thursday evening, was recovered from a car in Hardibazaar area on Friday. The accused, who roamed around in the car with the body of the innocent for hours, was finally caught after a thorough blockade and chase by the police. This case has created a sensation in the entire area. According to the information given by Janjgir SDOP Yadumani Sidar, car driver Devendra Kumar Verma hit the 6 year old at around 5 pm on Thursday evening. The accident took place under the limits of Baloda police station, district Janjgir-Champa.

 

The accused is a resident of Transport Nagar, Korba, and he was driving from Janjgir to Korba, with his wife. After the accident, when no family member of the girl was present on the spot, the accused pretended to be helpful and said that they would take the child to the hospital for treatment. But after this, they fled with the child. When the girl's family could not locate the girl in the nearby hospitals, a search was started. Also, the police was informed about the missing person and suspicious activities. As per the information, the girl died immediately after the accident, but the accused kept roaming around with the body out of fear.

 

He dropped his wife home and roamed around to dispose the body. Not only this, the AC was kept on in the car the whole night to prevent the foul smell of the body from spreading. He later returned home at night and then again went out in morning in an attempt to dispose the body. Meanwhile Hardibazaar police showed agility and tried to stop a suspicious white car during vehicle checking near Bhilai Bazaar, but the driver tried to escape. On growing suspicious, the police chased and stopped the vehicle and the body of the girl was recovered during the search.

 

As soon as the information about the serious incident was received, the Superintendent of Police and other senior officers reached the spot. The police took the car and the accused into custody and the body was sent for postmortem. Forensic experts have also been called on the spot. The deceased has been identified as Poonam Patel (6 years), daughter of Bittu Patel, a resident of Bachhod, Janjgir-Champa