The accused cop allegedly strangled the boy, police said (Representational)
A police head constable allegedly killed a six-year-old poor boy in Madhya Pradesh's Datia district after the latter repeatedly asked for money from him, and then carried the body in his car and dumped it at an isolated place in neighbouring Gwalior, a senior official said.
The incident took place last Thursday and the head constable, Ravi Sharma, who was posted at Gwalior's Police Training School, was later arrested, Superintendent of Police (SP) Aman Singh Rathore told reporters on Tuesday.
The accused told the police that he was suffering from depression since sometime and got irritated when the boy kept asking for money from him, the official said, without specifying why the victim was asking for money.
Earlier, a resident of Datia had complained to police that his six-year-old son had been lured away by some unidentified person on May 5, he said.
After the police registered a case in this connection, they got information that the body of a boy was found in Gwalior's Vivekanand Chouraha area under Jhansi Road police station limits.
The body was later identified as that of the boy, the official said.
In the CCTV footage of the area from where the boy went missing, the police saw a man engaged in some suspicious activity and he was later identified as head constable Sharma.
During questioning, Sharma told the police that he had gone to Datia for field duty during the 'Gaurav Diwas' celebration, the official said.
While he was on duty in Datia's Panchsheel Nagar, the boy repeatedly kept coming to him and asked for money.
The accused got irritated, took the boy near his car and then allegedly strangled him, SP Rathore said.
The accused later put the body in the boot of his car, drove to Gwalior, located over 70 km from Datia, and threw the body at an isolated place, he said.
Sharma also told the police that he was suffering from mental stress and depression for past several months and got irritated when the boy kept asking for money, SP Rathore said.
The police have seized Sharma's car and were collecting other evidence, he added.