Australian police are on the hunt for a child killer after the body of a missing toddler was found 20 km away from where he had disappeared six hours earlier.
The Indian boy, Gurshan Singh Kaurchanna, 3, who was on a three-month holiday in Australia with his parents, vanished from a relatives house in Lalor at about 1.10 pm (Australian time) on Thursday, while his mother was having a shower. (Read: Oz Police hunting for killer of Indian toddler)
The family from Faridkot district in Punjab, which was due to leave Australia soon, told the police that Gurshan was home playing. His mother, Harpreet Kaur, who is studying in Australia, was in the bathroom and came out to see the security door ajar and Gurshan gone. After a frantic search on the premises, a family member called the police.
The boy went missing while his father was at library. The boy was distraught that he was not allowed to go with his father. According to reports, there were couple of people in the house when the boy went missing.
A massive hunt was launched and a council worker discovered the body at Oaklands Junction, close to the Melbourne airport after 7 pm. An Australian newspaper website quoted the police as saying that the body found was in grey top and blue jeans. This is what Gurshan had been wearing when he went missing.
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Sir Ken Jones was quoted by Australian media as saying that they believed the child had been murdered. We are treating as worst case ... as a homicide,'' he said. This is a terrible tragedy. (Read: Toddler's death in Oz: Indian community shocked)
''We are doing everything in our power to establish what happened. Clearly the circumstances are suspicious, so we are assuming the worst.
The police say the boys body had no obvious signs of injuries and there is a need to conduct forensic tests.
Jones assured that all resources would be put in to bring the culprits to justice.