New Delhi: A 16-year-old boy was stabbed, his genitals dismembered and his body dumped in a lake in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal after a group of youths saw an Instagram reel claiming that human testicles can be sold for Rs 1.2 crore in Gulf countries, police said Wednesday.
Bhopal Police arrested Zoheb Khan, 20, a BBA student, 18-year-old Aamir Qureshi, a Class VIII dropout, and apprehended three minor boys aged between 15 and 16 years. The accused and the victim played cricket together, police said, adding that the gruesome crime was committed after Zoheb allegedly saw a Pakistani reel on Instagram where a woman claimed a teenage boy’s testicles could fetch them Rs 1.20 crore.
The victim, 16-year-old Rehan, was a street vendor. His father had passed away earlier, his mother made a living cleaning public toilets, while Rehan helped support his family by selling pens and keychains around Iqbal Maidan and Moti Masjid.
Rehan’s body was found floating in a lake on 10 August. His mother had filed a missing person report.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Zone-3 in Bhopal Ayush Gupta told ThePrint that the accused had identified three boys as possible targets for testicle extraction. “They lured the boys by telling them that they would be paid Rs 100 if they took part in a fight. While the first boy refused, the two others, including the victim, agreed.”
The accused called the first boy to an area in the jurisdiction of the Talaiyya police station. “They grabbed his neck and tried choking him, but he managed to free himself and ran away,” said the DCP.
Three days later, the accused called Rehan to another spot and attacked him with a knife. “In the second instance, the boy could not save himself and they ultimately killed him and took out his testicles,” said DCP Gupta.
Police have registered two FIRs over both the attacks under murder and attempted murder charges.
A fake reel and a fake doctor
It started when Zoheb saw an Instagram reel that claimed testicles could be sold in Gulf countries or in the US for crores.
“To make the young boys believe him, Zoheb used to dress up as a doctor, he bought himself a stethoscope. He used to pretend that he knew how to conduct post-mortems. He used to show them hospital cards, and talk about dead bodies. When he told the boys about the plan, he also told them they would become rich. The boys were convinced,” said a police officer who investigated the case, on condition of anonymity.
“They searched on Google about where to make the cuts,” added the officer.
The boys then began to hunt for victims, and zeroed in on Rehan.
The murder
On 6 August, the young boys approached Rehan at Iqbal Maidan and told him they had a dispute with some boys near Khatlapura and needed his help in a fight. They promised him Rs 100 if he accompanied them. Rehan agreed.
Police said Rehan was taken to a secluded area. “Throughout the journey, Zoheb allegedly remained on phone with the group. He was guiding them as the plan unfolded,” said the police officer quoted earlier. The other boys were already at the spot.
Rehan was stabbed in the back first. “He tried to resist, then fell down to the ground. The boys then attempted to cut his private parts using a blade. When they failed, Zoheb told them to pull them out of his body. They did,” said the officer.
The accused dumped Rehan’s body in Bhopal’s Lower Lake, or Chhota Talaab, and fled. They packed his testicles in polythene.
Testicles kept in fridge, then dumped
The police officer part of the investigation said Zoheb allegedly kept the testicles in a fridge. “On the first day, Zoheb kept the parts in his fridge. Then to avoid suspicion, he asked a friend to keep it in his fridge. He told his friend it was meat. His friend refused, so Zoheb packed the polythene in ice and kept it at his house. All this while, the accused searched on Google, to find out buyers for the private parts. They found none.”
On the third day, the group eventually decided to dump the parts in the Upper Lake.
Body in a lake
On 10 August, people living near the lake discovered a decomposed body floating in it.
“There were sharp-edged weapon injuries on the abdomen and legs. Police teams circulated photographs of the victim on social media. We also approached residents and conducted door-to-door inquiries while attempting to establish his identity,” said the police officer. A post-mortem was conducted on 11 August.
Meanwhile, Rehan’s mother had filed a missing person report on 10 August at a different police station, where she was told to check near the lake.
“We found a distinctive tattoo on his (Rehan’s) hand. The tattoo said ‘Shankar’ inside a heart. We had assumed he was a Hindu. When his mother identified him through the tattoo, the case began to unfold. When Rehan was a child, he grew up in an ashram,” said the officer.
Police then began to question those who had last been seen with him.
The trail eventually led investigators to the group of boys. “One of the accused’s friends, whom the accused had confided in, ultimately gave the tip-off to the police. The accused were arrested on 15 and 16 August,” said the officer.
During the investigation, police also got to know that a similar attempt was made on another boy from the same area, but out of fear, he did not tell anyone.
“His mother informed the police that the same accused attempted to strangulate her son, and attacked him. He managed to run away and was safe,” said the officer.
Police said the suspects have been taken on remand to identify the spots where Rehan’s organs were allegedly thrown.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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