Five-year-old found dead in gated community water tank; ex-security guard absconding
A five-year-old girl who went missing from a gated community in Kowkoor, near Bollarum, on Saturday evening was found dead in a water tank in the cellar of the community clubhouse, hours after her family received a ransom demand of ₹20 lakh, the police said.
The child, a resident of Villa Orchids, had gone to the games zone at the clubhouse as she did on most evenings. According to the police, she usually cycled there around 6 p.m. and returned home by 7 p.m. When she did not come back on Saturday, her family began searching the complex.
Her father, a research scientist, told the Bollarum police that he reached home around 7.45 p.m. and found his own father visibly distressed. The older man had received a call from an unknown number, in which the caller claimed the child was in his custody. Soon afterwards, the father received a call from the same number. The caller demanded ₹20 lakh and asked the family to travel to Secunderabad to collect the child.
On the basis of his complaint, the Bollarum police registered a case under Section 140(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with kidnapping for ransom, and launched a search. Officers combed the gated community, Secunderabad railway station and nearby lodges, and drones were deployed during the operation.
Investigators focused on a former security guard of the complex after his mobile phone's last known location was traced to the vicinity of Secunderabad railway station. CCTV footage from the community added to the suspicion: the complex has only one entrance, and the recordings showed that the former guard was the only person who walked out during the period in question, investigators said.
That prompted the police to search more intensively inside the community itself. A detailed inspection of the clubhouse building took them to a water tank in its cellar, where the child's body was found.
Investigators suspect the accused tied the child's hands and legs and stuffed cloth into her mouth before contacting her family to demand the ransom. They suspect she was strangled when he feared he would be caught. The police said the exact sequence of events leading to her death is yet to be established.
A clues team examined the spot and collected evidence. The body was shifted to Gandhi Hospital for a post-mortem examination.
The former security guard, identified as Vikram, is absconding. The police have launched a search for him. Investigators said further details — about the sequence of events, the ransom demand and the circumstances of the child's death — would emerge only after his arrest. He remains a suspect and has not been convicted of any offence.
The case has drawn attention to security arrangements in gated communities, which are widely marketed as safe spaces for families. The police have not said whether any lapses have been established, and the investigation is continuing.
This report does not name the child, in keeping with norms on protecting the identity of minor victims of crime.
