JAIPUR: A day after he was detained for allegedly killing his 1.8-year-old son, Jaipur (Rural) police Friday arrested Lalit Saini (35), after the toddler’s body was recovered from a 200-foot-deep dry borewell in Dipola ki Dhani village under Jamwa Ramgarh police station limits.Police said Saini initially misled them, claiming the child was sent to a relative’s home for treatment. However, after prolonged questioning, he confessed to dumping the boy into an open borewell near his farmland late Wednesday night. To hide the act, he covered the borewell with plastic and soil.A senior officer told TOI the recovery was made with the help of teams from SDRF, NDRF, and Civil Defence after a multi-hour rescue operation. The body was sent for post-mortem to determine whether the child was alive at the time of being thrown into the borewell.The investigation began late Wednesday night after the police control room received a complaint from the child’s maternal grandfather, Harphool Saini, a resident of Dausa. He alleged that Lalit thrashed his daughter Manju and threw her out of the house about a fortnight ago. She is currently receiving treatment at the district hospital in Dausa.“The accused changed his statements several times during the preliminary inquiry. His evasive responses made the probe more difficult,” a senior officer said. Initially, Saini claimed the child was with his sister. When pressed for her details, he said he later dropped the boy at a friend’s house.Police teams conducted searches in Kukas, Saipura, and nearby areas, but found no trace of the child. It was only after sustained interrogation by a team led by deputy SP Pradeep Kumar Yadav and SHO Rampal Sharma that Saini admitted to the crime and revealed the location of the borewell.Police are also examining the medical records to verify his claim that the child was unwell. Investigators suspect foul play, and the post-mortem report is awaited to confirm the cause of death.“Saini was initially detained Thursday, as we suspected foul play from the start. He was formally arrested Friday,” the officer said.
