Aluva: The discovery of the 5-year-old girl's body on the premises of the Aluva market shocked both workers and locals here. 

Sirajudheen, a CITU worker at the market, revealed that he saw the accused, Ashfaq Alam, a Bihar native, with the child in the market on Friday evening. Sirajudheen later contacted the police on Saturday morning after seeing the photo of the accused in the media. 

A search on the market premises led to finding the body of the child, daughter of a Bihar couple, who went missing 21 hours ago from her residence in Choornikkara Panchayat. Further, police collected CCTV footage from the area, which showed Ashfaq Alam leaving the market without the child. 

"When the accused and the child arrived at the market, the child was gnawing on a toffee. He informed me he was going to drink liquor in the area near the marketplace. He identified the child as his daughter. Later, two or three other men followed him to the same location," he said.