The crime branch officials of Navi Mumbai police on Friday (July 3) arrested a close relative of the Vaz family after their eight-year-old girl of New Horizon High School, Franshela Vaz, was kidnapped from near her Airoli residence on June 29. Police sources informed that the girl was murdered by her uncle, identified as Clarence Fonseca, on the same day of the kidnapping, and her body was dumped at Mira Road. At present, the cops are only stating that the accused man had kidnapped Franshela while she going towards her house in Airoli, after being dropped from the school bus of New Horizon High School.

Sources informed that the police had detained the Clarence on basis of suspicion on Thursday evening. However, during interrogation by the police officials he confessed about murdering Franshela and dumping her body in the jungle of Mira Road.

On Friday evening, the Navi Mumbai Zone - I police officials called a press conference to inform the media about the case.

Shahaji Umap, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) while addressing the media said, “Clarence Fonseca the girl uncle murdered her on the same day when he kidnapped her. Within one hour of kidnapping her, Clarence murdered her and dumped her body in the jungles of Mira Road. The accused Clarence kidnapped the girl while she was going towards her house in Airoli, after being dropped from the school bus of New Horizon School. Usually, Franshela's mother used to pick her up from below the building where the school bus used to drop her. However, since past few days she wasn’t keeping well and hence, Franshela used to walk home alone from the place where school bus used to drop her.”

DCP further added, “Since there was no CCTV in the building where Franshela used to stay, the only important lead for us in this case was the 10-year-old boy from her building who had last seen her with one person in a red van. After the boy's statement, we came to know that some close people would have been involved in this kidnapping and we had our suspicion on Clarence. On Thursday evening, we arrested Clarence who during interrogation confessed to the kidnapping and also killing. The motive behind this heinous crime was the past dispute between Clarence and Franshela's father who has gone to Netherlands five days ago for some official work.”

The accused was produced before the Belapur Court on Friday evening and remanded to four days of police custody.