Overview

• Akola district police arrested 38-year-old stepfather Akash Kanherkar and 36-year-old friend Gaurav Gaigole on suspicion of strangling nine-year-old Darshan Palaskar
• CCTV footage showing Darshan with his stepfather on July 2 guided a 12-hour search by 60 officers that recovered the body near Chichona village in Anjangaon taluka
• The boy’s body was found stuffed in a gunny bag and sent to Akola government hospital for autopsy, with forensic findings still pending
• Investigators are probing possible motives in the killing as they prepare a chargesheet expected within two days
• The case highlights a troubling rise in caregiver-perpetrated child homicides and the expanding role of coordinated forensic operations across India