A teenager has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping his neighbour's five-year-old son, murdering him and then seeking a ransom of Rs 50, 000 from the parents. The victim's body was recovered from a swamp, half-a-kilometre from his Kandivli residence, yesterday.
Police have arrested Manish Gaud (19), for kidnapping and murdering his neighbour’s son Sagar Sharma (in pic). They have also detained seven persons, including Gaud’s girlfriend Deepa Vishwakarma, and are trying to ascertain their role in the crime.
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According to the police, Ekta Nagar, Kandivli (E) resident, Sagar was playing outside his house on Sunday afternoon when Gaud lured him with a chocolate. After Gaud and his friends gagged the minor, they took him to the nearby marshy area and hit him on the head with a stone killing him.
Later, his father reported the matter to the police. Such was the audacity of the accused that after killing the boy, when the victim’s father was searching for his son, Gaud and his friends started helping trace the boy.
“All the time the accused kept a close watch on investigations and even approached us to offer help,” said Sudhakar Shinde, police inspector with Kandivli police station. “At first we did not suspect them, but finally it was ascertained that it was them who killed the boy,” he added.
The police zeroed in on Gaud after he made a ransom call to the victim’s father Shiv Chand Sharma and demanded a ransom of Rs 20,000 on Tuesday. Then two days later, a second call was made, and this time the ransom was increased to Rs 50,000.
As the kidnapper was negotiating with the victim’s family, cops traced the call. But, the SIM card was registered with a fake identity. Cops then started keeping a close watch on the residents in the area.
Finding Gaud’s activities suspicious, they picked him up for questioning where he confessed to the crime. Cops believe the teenager wanted money to splurge on his 18-year-old girlfriend. “He has killed my son. He should be hanged,” said Sunita Sharma, mother of the boy.u00a0
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