Disappearance of Rahul Raju

Rahul Raju was a seven-year-old boy from Alappuzha in Kerala, India , who went missing on 18 May 2005, while playing with friends in his neighborhood. The local police that investigated the case could not find any evidence and the case is at present being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation, India's premier investigating agency. Background: Rahul, the only son of Raju, was playing with his friends in the neighborhood when he took a break and went to drink water from a public tap in the corner of the playground. He was last seen by friends who witnessed a bearded middle-aged man standing near to Rahul who snatched his cricket bat and threw it to his friends. His friends collected the bat and continued playing. Later they noticed that Rahul was not playing with them. Enquiries: The local police that investigated the case questioned many people including a neighborhood middle-aged man, who admitted to killing Rahul and throwing his body into a marsh. However, the police have failed to trace the body and the investigation reached nowhere. Later the police found that the person's statements were false and fabricated. The mystery surrounding the disappearance of the boy continues as no tangible evidence was found. CBI questioned different people including his neighbors. In February 2006, the CBI decided to make a neighborhood youth undergo a narco analysis test and approached the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court for permission. The court later commented that no special permission is needed to conduct a test. Earlier the alleged person had undergone a polygraph test also, but again there was no affirmative conclusions drawn. In early 2013, the CBI filed a plea before the High Court of Kerala to allow them to close the case as the boy was untraceable. However, the boy's father filed an objection petition against the CBI plea. On 13 March 2014, the CBI filed the closure report of the case for the fourth time before the court. The CBI, in its report, stated that the boy remains untraceable despite all efforts to trace him. Current status: The Government of Kerala and the CBI each announced a reward of Rs. 50,000 for information on his whereabouts. The local police and the CBI remain clueless as despite considerable investigation they have uncovered no evidence as to the nature of Rahul's disappearance. However, it is widely believed that the boy was kidnapped, but no further information is available as to whether the child is alive or murdered.