What began as a child’s innocent game ended in a tragedy that no family can imagine. A simple race on a quiet evening turned fatal when a three-and-a-half-year-old boy suddenly went missing. The child, Mohammad Kaunen Ansari, had gone missing during playtime and was later found dead in a drain, police said. The deceased has been identified as Mohammad Kaunen Ansari. Kaunen was the son of Imran Ansari, a handloom worker, and a resident of Mehboobpura, Yogi Aravind Nagar. Ansari couple also has a one-month-old daughter. The sudden loss of the young child has left the family and the entire neighbourhood in a deep shock. According to police, the incident occurred around 7 pm on Friday. Kaunen was playing outside with his six-year-old maternal brother. While playing, the two kids began a sprint. During the race, Kaunen accidentally slipped and fell into an open drain in the Yashodhara Nagar area. A police officer said, “The boy saw the child fall into the drain but got scared and did not inform anyone immediately.

 

He went home and fell asleep instead of raising an alarm.” When Kaunen did not return home, his family members began searching for him in the nearby area. After failing to find the child, his father approached the police station late at night and filed a complaint. The police registered a case of kidnapping, suspecting foul play. Senior Police Inspector Sandeep Buwa and his team immediately started an intensive search operation. “We checked CCTV footage from the surrounding areas. In one camera, the child was seen leaving with his uncle’s son, but they were not seen returning in another camera facing the opposite direction,” PI Buwa said. Based on this crucial clue, the police decided to question the boy. With the help of relatives, officers tried to wake him up, but he claimed he was asleep and showed little response. On Saturday morning, Kaunen’s body was found in the drain. The police conducted a panchnama at the spot and sent the body to the hospital for post-mortem. “The exact cause of death will be confirmed after the post-mortem report, but preliminary findings suggest accidental drowning,” a police official stated.