10-yr-old abducted, killed in Loni over loan dispute; 3 held

The boy, a resident of a locality under the jurisdiction of the Loni Border police station, went missing while playing

Ghaziabad: Police on late Saturday evening arrested three suspects who allegedly kidnapped a 10-year-old boy from outside his house in Loni on July 10 and later murdered him in Delhi’s Narela industrial area that night over a loan that never came, officers said on Sunday.

During questioning, the ACP said, the suspects led police teams to Narela, where the body packed in a gunny bag was recovered from a pond on Saturday night. (Representational image)

Police identified the prime suspect as auto driver Dharmendra Kumar, 59, his son, Rohit Kumar, 20 and Guddu Alam, 22. The three were arrested at Loni Border in Ghaziabad.

The boy, a resident of a locality under the jurisdiction of the Loni Border police station, went missing while playing. After searching, the family approached the police, and a first information report (FIR) under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for kidnapping was registered against unidentified people on July 11.

“We roped in three teams to trace the missing boy…We sought local information, help from CCTV and electronic surveillance, and even used cyber cell team to get clues about suspects…We came to know that an auto driver from the boy’s neighbourhood had been missing from his house since the time the boy was kidnapped. His mobile remained switched off. Our teams tried to trace him and finally arrested him along with two others,” said assistant commissioner of police (Ankur Vihar circle) Ajay Kumar Singh.

During questioning, the ACP said, the suspects led police teams to Narela, where the body packed in a gunny bag was recovered from a pond on Saturday night.

Suspects told the police they allegedly kidnapped the boy in an auto.

“The three told police that they murdered him by hitting his head with bricks and also by way of strangulation. Later, they packed the body and threw it in a pond. Prime suspect Dharmendra told us that he had approached the boy’s uncle about five months ago to help him get a loan of ₹5 lakh from a bank, and paid him ₹15,000. However, the loan was not given, and Dharmendra thought it was a deliberate attempt to block his loan. So, he avenged it by killing the boy,” the ACP added.

Officers said that they have added BNS sections of 103 (murder), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) and 238 (destruction of evidence) to the case investigation.