14-year-old strangulated cousin and dumped body in Gorai creek; cops say teenager had stolen money from father's account and resorted to kidnapping to repay the amount
A 14-year-old boy kidnapped his 8-year-old cousin and then killed him to pay back Rs 40,000, which he had fraudulently withdrawn from his father’s bank account. Police recovered the body of the deceased from Gorai creek, Borivli (W), yesterday. Cops believe the teenager was influenced to commit the crime after watching a popular crime serial on TV.
Tragic end: Police brought the accused to Gorai creek to locate the box in which he stuffed Dheeraj Pandit’s body (insert) after killing himu00a0
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The accused (who cannot be named, as he is a juvenile) abducted Dheeraj Pandit on Sunday and took him to his house hoping that his uncle would pay a ransom for the release of his son. But, as his cousin created a ruckus, and the fear of getting caught looming over his head, he strangled the boy with a tie, stuffed him in a box and kept it in his house for two days. He threw the box in the creek on Tuesday.
According to the police, on the day of the murder, the accused drafted a letter and pasted it on the door of his uncle demanding a ransom of Rs 1.5 lakh. The letter also stated the money should be delivered at a local public toilet.
The moment, Shree Kumar Pandit, the deceased’s father, saw the letter he approached the Borivli police. Cops swung into action and started inquiring with neighbours about the missing child. Cops figured that the offender could be from the area, as the ransom letter was pinned to the door, leading them to believe that the kidnapper knew the child’s father. They intensified their interrogation and decided to speak to all relatives on a hunch. When they visited the accused’s house, they found the deceased child’s school notebook, which raised suspicions in their mind.
Cops then asked the accused to show them his school notebook to check if the handwriting on the ransom letter matched. The writing matched and cops started questioning the teenager. During interrogations, he confessed to the kidnapping and murder.
According to the police, the accused took the drastic step, after secretly removing Rs 40,000 from his father’s account using his debit card over a period of two months. The accused realised that his father would learn of the withdrawals and decided to replenish the account by kidnapping his uncle’s son.
The police have registered a case under section 302 and 363 of Indian Penal Code. “The accused, being a minor, will be sent to the remand home at Dongri. He had kidnapped the deceased and later killed him out of fear of getting caught. He got the idea by watching an episode on TV,” said Senior Police Inspector Bhagwan Chate of Borivli police station.u00a0
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