A blood-stained rough notebook belonging to a 10-year-old boy helped police in Madhya Pradesh crack what investigators initially feared was a near-perfect blind murder case in Raisen district.
The decomposed body of a man was discovered inside a sack beneath Sirwara Bridge near Nagin Mod on the Bhopal–Jabalpur highway on May 7. Police said the victim’s hands and legs were tied, while his mouth had been sealed with tape. The body was so badly decomposed that identification appeared nearly impossible.
Investigators found no phone, wallet or identification documents on the victim, leading police to suspect that he had been murdered elsewhere and dumped near the highway to conceal his identity.
The only evidence recovered from the scene was a small bag, a grocery receipt from Saikheda town in Narsinghpur district, and a child’s rough notebook stained with blood.
Initially dismissed as an ordinary school copy, the notebook later became the key breakthrough in the investigation. Officers noticed that the pages contained untidy homework, mathematics problems, Hindi notes and repeated signatures or check marks from what appeared to be a private tutor.
Police circulated photographs of the notebook through school groups, tuition networks and local WhatsApp communities in Saikheda. Teams also went door to door carrying photocopies, asking teachers, tutors and residents if they recognised the handwriting or signatures.
“The notebook did not even have a proper name or address. It looked ordinary, almost useless, but that became the centre of the investigation,” Raisen Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Gupta told TOI.
After several days, a private tutor identified the signatures as his own. Investigators then traced the handwriting to one of his students and reached the child’s home, only to discover the house locked and abandoned for several days.
Police said the family’s sudden disappearance transformed the notebook from a minor clue into the strongest lead in the case.
Using local informers, investigators tracked the family across multiple cities before detaining them in Ujjain.
“When the accused were detained, they initially claimed the rough book could have been dumped by anyone. But forensic analysis had already found blood stains on it. They eventually broke down during questioning,” Gupta said.
Police later identified the victim as Pappu alias Veer Jat, a resident of Rajasthan.
According to investigators, the rough notebook belonged to the son of the main accused. Police arrested the boy’s mother along with Arun Patel and Harnam Singh Kirar in connection with the murder.
Investigators said the killing stemmed from a love triangle. Police alleged that the woman murdered her new lover, Pappu, with the assistance of her former partner Arun Patel and another accomplice before dumping the body near the highway.
