Body of 4-yr-old boy found in garbage bin of express train; cops say cousin abducted him from Surat

Mumbai | The body of a four-year-old boy was found dumped in a garbage bin kept in the toilet of an express train at Mumbai's Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) early on Saturday, with the police saying the victim was abducted by his cousin from Surat in Gujarat.

The body was found inside an air-conditioned coach of the Kushinagar Express (22537) train that runs daily between Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and the LTT, police said.

The incident came to light after the train arrived at the LTT, a police official said.

A public relations officer of the Central Railway said the cleaning staff found the body of the boy in one of the toilets of B2 coach of the express around 6 am during the sanitation process, after which they alerted the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP).

A Gujarat police team also reached Mumbai in search of the boy after a missing person complaint was lodged there. During the probe, they found

Kidnapped boy

that he had been abducted from Amroli in Surat on Friday, the police official said.

"After contacting the LTT GRP officials, the Gujarat police team verified the victim's identity and confirmed that he was the same kidnapped boy. After that, they alerted his family members back home," he said.

The police found that the boy had been kidnapped from Surat on Friday morning by his 24-year-old cousin, when the minor was playing outside his residence, he said.

Kushinagar Express is one of the popular trains that connects north India to Mumbai. However, it does not travel via Surat or any other part of Gujarat.

It was not yet clear how the two cousins caught the Kushinagar Express, the police official said, adding that it will come to light only after the arrest of the accused.

Police have launched a search to nab him, he said.

A case of murder has been registered at the LTT GRP police station and it will be transferred for investigation to Amroli police station in Surat, he added.