Factory worker held for kidnapping, killing friend in Machhiwara

The accused, a factory worker, called the accused for a drink and then kidnapped him and held him captive in a field in Machhiwara; the accused demanded ₹10 lakh as ransom

Police have arrested a factory worker for kidnapping and killing his friend in Machhiwara.

The factory worker and his friend had dumped the decomposing body of the kidnapped victim from a field at Iraq village in Machhiwara on Tuesday. (Representative Image/HT File)

The accused, Shatrughan, committed the crime along with one Rakesh Kumar to earn easy money, said deputy superintendent of police, Samrala, Harvinder Singh Khaira.

The victim Nitesh Kumar, 18, a shopkeeper, had been kidnapped on September 4. His decomposing body was recovered from a field at Iraq village in Machhiwara on Tuesday, after Shatrughan revealed its whereabouts on Monday. Police said Nitesh had been killed the same day.

Shatrughan told police that he and Rakesh had invited Nitesh to have a drink with them, but they took him to the fields and held him captive instead. They beat him up and forced him to ask his parents to pay ₹10 lakh as ransom. They even clicked his pictures and sent them to his parents. Later, they strangled him to death and fled.

The DSP said the family approached police and a case of kidnapping was registered. After zeroing in on Shatrughan, police arrested him from the Kalaktar Ganj railway station in Uttar Pradesh.