In a bizarre case, to save himself after killing his father, a 17-year-old boy in Vrindavan watched a TV serial over 100 times to learn ways to destroy evidence.

The fact came to light after the accused, a class 12 student, was held by the Mathura police on Wednesday. The cops checked his mobile phone and found that he had watched the ‘Crime Patrol’ series over a 100 times. 

On May 2, 42-year-old Manoj Mishra scolded his son. Upset with his rebukes, the boy hit his father on the head with an iron rod and when he fainted, he strangled him with a piece of cloth.

Later, the same night, the boy, with the help of his mother, carried the body on his scooty to a forest area about five kilometres away and burnt it to destroy the identity. 

On May 3, police found a partially burnt body that remained unidentified for almost three weeks as no missing person report was filed in any police station. The family, finally, lodged a missing person complaint on May 27 under pressure from ISKCON officials since Manoj Mishra worked there as a donation collector.

Some of his colleagues identified the body to be that of Manoj, on the basis of the spectacles recovered.

Meanwhile, suspicions arose as Mathura Superintendent of Police Udai Shanker Singh said that whenever they called Manoj’s son for questioning, he would evade coming and would instead ask the police under what provisions of the law were they trying to interrogate him.

However, when police checked his mobile phone, they found a history of the boy watching Crime Patrol episodes at least 100 times. After several rounds of questioning, the boy finally broke down and admitted to his crime.

The police arrested the boy and his mother Sangeeta Mishra and booked them for murder and destroying evidence. The 11-year-old sister of the accused has been handed over to his grandparents.