Smith Goyani (10) was kidnapped by an unknown person from near his house in Nana Varachha on Friday evening. The boy, a student of P P Sawani School, was returning home after school with his classmates. Smith’s friends had separated a few metres away from the place where he was kidnapped. The body was recovered on Saturday afternoon from the bushes on the Abhrama Kathor Road.
The police took charge of the body and started investigations, after the boy’s father, Dr Kishor Goyani, a homoeopathic doctor, lodged a complaint.
After primary investigations, the police said the deceased was strangulated with the lanyard attached to his water bottle.
Inspector B M Desai of Kapodara police said: “We are yet to find a clue in the incident. We have recorded the statements of Dr Goyani’s neighbours and found that he did not have any enmity with anyone. His behaviour with the patients and staff at his dispensary has also been good. We suspect some quarrel in the family might have led to this. Dr Goyani’s relatives stay in Bhavnagar and we might send our team there.”
On Monday afternoon, the school authorities organised a thirty-minute long function to mourn the death of their student. More than 700 students of P P Sawani School gathered in the assembly hall to pay their last respects along with the school staff and the boy’s parents.
The school principal, Parbat Dagasiya said: “He was a brilliant student and had secured 95 per cent marks in the first terminal examination. His classmates are missing him a lot and even the class teacher remembers him.”