New Delhi, Feb 13: The seven-year-old boy who went missing from his residence in the city's northwest Swaroop Nagar area was found dead on Tuesday. Police recovered the deceased's body bundled in a suitcase in Nathupura village.

The victim, Ashish, went missing on January 7. After a month of investigation, the police cracked down on the prime accused - Avdesh Sakya - the child's neighbour.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Aslam Khan confirmed the arrest of Sakya, saying that he has confessed to the crime. The reason for murdering the child, the accused claimed, was personal enmity with the victim's parents.

Sakya, an aspirant of the UPSC, was a paying guest at Ashish's residence till five years ago. However, he shifted to another residence since Ashish's parents objected to his "parties".

This, the police said, kept Sakya miffed against the victim's parents. He was also anguished with them for not allowing Ashish to meet him.

On January 7,  DCP Khan told HT, Ashish was lured by the accused to his residence by promising him a cycle. On the same day, he smothered the child to death. However, the body was not disposed off by him the same day due to the CCTV cameras installed in the vicinity.

Instead, he bundled the body inside a suitcase and kept it in a box. He also killed a couple of rats in his house to justify the stench.

In order to avoid suspicion, Sakya had accompanied Ashish's parents on the day they filed the police complaint. The investigating officers had recorded his statements as well.

Sakya, however, came under radar after Ashish's parents noticed that he began maintaining a distance from them. On intimating the police, Sakya was again called for questioning. After changing his statements multiple times, the accused finally broke down and reportedly confessed to his crime.

According to the police, he had been planning to make ransom call to the child's parents before being arrested.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 13, 2018 06:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).