Neighbour arrested after 9-year-old girl's body found in plastic bag in Gandhinagar

In a chilling case that shocked Raipur village in Gandhinagar district, police on Friday arrested a 36-year-old man for allegedly kidnapping and murdering a 9-year-old girl, whose body was recovered two days after she went missing. The accused, identified as Anilkumar Raymalbhai Devipujak, lived next door to the victim and is alleged to have killed her over a past dispute with the family, officials said.

According to Gandhinagar district police, the girl went missing from her home in Ramapir Wala Vas of Raipur village around 10 am on November 12, shortly after her parents — daily-wage workers employed at Zak GIDC — had left for work, leaving her and her young brother at home.

When the child could not be traced and was suspected to have been abducted, her father contacted the 112 emergency helpline and sought police assistance. Recognising the gravity of the incident, Inspector G K Bharwad of Dabhoda police station immediately informed senior officers and deployed around 40 personnel from the police, Home Guards and GRD to initiate a search operation. Teams examined CCTV footage from around the locality, scanned surrounding areas, and mobilised human intelligence and technical surveillance.

Despite an extensive search that continued through the night, including the use of drones and combing operations in the Khari river ravines near Raipur, no trace of the child was found until Thursday evening.

Around 9 pm on November 13, police received information that a suspicious plastic bag was lying in an open plot behind a house near the victim’s residence. Officers rushed to the spot and discovered the girl’s body inside the bag. The area was cordoned off, and senior officers, including DIG Virendrasingh Yadav (Gandhinagar Range), reached the site to oversee the investigation.

The Local Crime Branch, SOG, forensic team, fingerprint experts and a dog squad joined the probe. During questioning of neighbours and suspects, police zeroed in on Anilkumar, a neighbour who had reportedly quarrelled with the victim’s family in the past.

According to the police, Anilkumar confessed during interrogation. Officers said that on the morning of November 12, upon noticing the girl alone at home, kidnapped her, took her to his residence, then strangled her and placed the body in a plastic bag, which he hid beneath debris in an open plot behind his house. He allegedly joined villagers in the search to avoid suspicion, but panicked when the body began to emit a foul smell as police intensified patrolling. On Thursday night, he shifted the plastic bag to another nearby open spot, where police eventually recovered it.

Police said the accused, a self-described devotee of a local deity, is originally from Kheralu in Mehsana district and had been living in Raipur for some years.

Anilkumar was arrested and charged with kidnapping, murder and destruction of evidence under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police said a detailed post-mortem examination is being conducted, and further investigation is underway to reconstruct the sequence of events. Dabhoda Police Station, Gandhinagar district, is conducting further inquiries.