The accused, Mukesh Kumar of Dhandhari Khurd and his accomplice Vikas Kumar of Focal Point, Ludhiana, allegedly strangled the boy to death with a piece of rope and dumped the body in the canal near Neelon. The duo was arrested on Friday
A labourer kidnapped and later killed the 10-year-old son of his friend after making a ransom call for ₹1.5 lakh in Focal Point.
The accused, Mukesh Kumar of Dhandhari Khurd and his accomplice Vikas Kumar of Focal Point, allegedly strangled the boy to death with a piece of rope and dumped the body in the canal near Neelon. The duo was arrested on Friday.
The victim Amit Kumar, 10, was kidnapped on June 15. Amrinder Kumar, father of the victim, who lives in the labour quarters in Dhandhari Khurd said that he received a ransom call from Mukesh on the evening of June 15, following which he made a complaint to the police.
Amninder, who is a native of Bihar, told police that his son Amit had gone to the rented accommodation of his neighbor Mukesh Kumar on June 15 but he did not return till evening. When he went to Mukesh’s room to look for his son, it was found locked. Few hours later, he received a ransom call from Mukesh saying that if he didn’t give him ₹1.50 lakh, he would kill his son. He immediately made a complaint to the police.
Sub-inspector Kuldeep Singh, Focal Point station house officer, said police immediately initiated investigation.
“On Thursday, the police arrested Mukesh Kumar along with his accomplice Vikas Kumar from Sahnewal airport road. The accused told police that they had strangled the boy to death with a piece of a rope on the night of June 15 itself after making the ransom call. Later, they disposed of the body in Neelon Canal,” said the SHO.
“Vikas Kumar was Mukesh’s friend and both hatched the conspiracy in greed of money. While Mukesh was unemployed for the past one year, Vikas works in a factory. Both are migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar respectively and were living in Ludhiana for work. The victim’s father is also a factory worker,” he added.
The SHO added that they are trying to locate the body.
A case under Sections 364A (kidnapping for ransom), 302 (murder) and 34 (act done with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the accused at Focal Point police station.