Mumbai Crime: Panicked kidnappers kill boy even before making ransom call

Powai police arrest two youths who allegedly kidnapped a 12-year-old and then strangled him to death over fear of getting caught. This duo had made grand plans of asking for Rs 10 lakh as ransom after kidnapping a 12-year-old from Powai. But the two panicked even before making that call to the family and killed the boy. The Powai police have arrested the accused and recovered the minor's body from a spot near Bhayander.

The spot near Bhayander from where the body of Powai resident Ritesh Singh was discovered. Pics/Hanif Patel

The killers within
Ritesh Singh, a Std III student in a civic school who stayed with his parents in Powai's Hanuman Chawl, had gone missing on Sunday afternoon. The police said the accused - Amar Singh, 19, and Lalu Singh, 21 - were known to the family as they were in related lines of work - Amar and Ritesh's father did fabrication and welding jobs in the same locality, while Lalu, a Bhayander resident, was into steel polishing. They all hail from Fatehpur district in Uttar Pradesh. According to officers, the two confessed to the crime and told investigators that they had abducted the child for ransom but, on becoming aware that the matter had gone to the police, panicked and killed him out of fear of being caught.

Ritesh Singh

In mourning
The boy's father, Bablu, told mid-day, "I came home from work to have lunch; Ritesh was playing then. After a while, Amar came over and spent some time with Ritesh, after which he asked me if he could go out with Amar. I didn't think twice before saying yes as it wasn't the first time the two were hanging out." Around 2.30 pm, Bablu added, he called up Amar to ask about Ritesh; Amar told him that he had dropped the boy near home hours ago. "We started searching for Ritesh but couldn't find him anywhere. I called up Amar again, telling him how upset we were. He promised to come over immediately but didn't show up. We waited till evening and called him again, but his phone was switched off. After that, I lodged a police complaint.

"I didn't get any ransom call. I know both of them very well; we never had any quarrel or fight, there was no animosity. I fail to understand why they did this. But what I do know is that both of them should get the strictest punishment," said a bereft Bablu.

Policespeak
Ritesh's body, recovered last morning, had several injuries. It is feared that the boy was brutally assaulted before being strangled to death, an officer said. DCP (zone X) Navin Reddy said, "The motive was to extort money from the victim's father, but they got scared and killed the child. They have been booked for kidnapping and murder. They were produced in court, which sent them to police custody. Further investigation is on."

Rs 10 Lakh The ransom the accused had planned to demand

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