Malda: A wave of shock and grief swept through Leelaramtola village in North Lakshmipur under the Mothabari Police Station after the body of five-year-old Rishika Mondal was found floating in a village pond on Tuesday morning—nearly five days after she mysteriously went missing.
Rishika, daughter of local farmer Manoj Mondal, disappeared last Friday while returning home from the fields, barely 200 metre from her house. Her parents, grandmother and siblings were harvesting crops when the children were sent back home. While her older brother reached safely, Rishika did not.
“We searched everywhere that day. We looked in every lane, every field, every house. But she was gone. We cannot accept what has happened,” a grief-stricken father, Manoj Mondal said.
After the family lodged a missing diary at Mothabari Police Station, police launched an intensive search operation for two consecutive days. On Tuesday morning, a dog squad team from Murshidabad joined the search, combing fields, orchards and waterbodies across the area. However, the canine team left after failing to find any trace of the child.
Shockingly, within half an hour of their departure, villagers spotted a small body floating in a nearby pond. It was identified as Rishika.
“How could the body suddenly appear just after the dog squad left? Something is not right here,” a villager, Jogen Mandal alleged, hinting at possible foul play.
Police recovered the body and sent it for post-mortem. Officers say it is “too early to confirm” whether the death was due to drowning or homicide.
According to the police, they are investigating all possible angles and the
truth will come out only after forensic reports.