Japur, March 3 (IANS) The search for the skeletal remains of four-year-old Tillu alias Prince, who went missing six years ago under the Bandikui police station limits in Rajasthan’s Dausa district, entered its third consecutive day on Tuesday.
The search is being carried out after the accused referred to the area where the child’s body was likely to have been buried during the investigation.
Excavation, which started on Sunday, is currently underway on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, resulting in the closure of three out of five traffic lanes. Police also conducted a drone camera survey of an area of approximately one km.
The operation intensified following fresh leads in the murder investigation. On Monday, authorities carried out extensive excavation across an approximately 80-metre stretch, about four metres wide and nearly 12 feet deep, using JCB machines and heavy excavators. However, no skeletal remains were recovered, prompting officials to resume digging on Tuesday.
Sources said the excavator deployed at the site costs around Rs 10,500 per hour and consumes nearly 20 litres of diesel per hour. On Sunday, the first day of the operation, the road surface was removed using a milling machine. Subsequently, sensitive locations were identified with the help of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) technology.
Based on a location earlier indicated by the accused — near a peepal tree — two to three highly sensitive zones were marked.
A Swedish-made GPR machine, brought from Jaipur, scanned the area for nearly five hours, examining the ground to a depth of about six metres. The technical team searched for signs of pits, voids, or unusual underground disturbances and marked suspected spots for excavation.
Additional Superintendent of Police Yogendra Faujdar, Station House Officer Zaheer Abbas, Tehsildar Rajesh Saini, and other senior officials are present at the site, overseeing the operation.
Police authorities stated that excavation will continue using scientific methods until all identified points are thoroughly examined.
Due to the ongoing search, traffic movement on three lanes of the expressway has been suspended, while two lanes remain operational.
Barricading has been put in place, and certain sections have been levelled with soil to maintain safety standards.
Family members and local residents have been camping at the site, hoping for closure in the six-year-old case. Despite sustained efforts, the remains have yet to be recovered, leaving the family in continued distress as the search progresses.
Prince, a resident of Ramdeva Ki Dhani in the Bandikui police station area of Dausa district, was murdered on August 16, 2020. His neighbour, a young man and his sister conspired to murder Prince and bury his body beneath the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.
Police arrested both accused approximately 15 days ago. During interrogation, they confessed to killing Prince and burying his body beneath the expressway. Since then, police have been continuously attempting to recover Prince’s skeleton.
–IANS
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