The Pakpattan Police on Friday took two men from Kalyana into custody over their alleged involvement in the rape and murder of a six-year-old boy.

The boy — a resident of Kalyana village and a student of Class 1 — did not return home from school on Thursday, after which his family and neighbours started their search for him. The child's body was eventually found at the Government Primary School.

Once the family and neighbours identified the body, ASP Saddar Dr Sameer Noor and the crime scene unit of the Pakpattan police reached the school to collect evidence.

The body was moved to the District Headquarter Hospital for a postmortem examination and the police registered a first investigation report against unidentified persons for the suspected rape and murder of the school boy.

The medical report confirmed that the boy was sexually assaulted before being strangled to death.

Pakpattan District Police Officer Maria Mehmood created a joint investigation team (JIT) under the supervision of ASP Saddar.

The gatekeeper of the Government Primary School and one other person were taken into custody by the JIT due to suspicion of their involvement in the case.

Speaking to DawnNewsTV, ASP Noor said that the police would get to the bottom of the case at the earliest.