Toddler found dead inside temple with deep neck cut; elder brother held

PATNA: A one-and-a-half-year-old boy was allegedly murdered inside a Durga temple in Jeetan Chhapra village under Ranitalab police station area in Patna district on Saturday. A deep cut was found on his neck.Police arrested the child’s elder brother, 24-year-old Ajit Kumar, in connection with the murder.Paliganj sub-divisional police officer (SDPO-II) Pankaj Kumar Sharma said police received information about the murder at around 11.50am. After verifying the information, a police team reached the spot and, with the help of villagers, took Ajit into custody.The SDPO said Ajit, son of tractor driver Ranju Yadav, allegedly killed his younger brother Manish Kumar alias Hanuman with a ‘dabia’ (a sharp agricultural cutting weapon) inside the temple premises. Police are investigating the circumstances leading to the killing.Ranitalab SHO Navneet Anand told TOI the police had recovered the child’s body and were probing the circumstances surrounding the murder.