Two more minor boys detained for Noida teen’s murder over money

A day after a 15-year-old boy was detained for allegedly killing a 13-year-old boy over a monetary dispute, police on Wednesday detained two more minors --- brothers aged 13 and 16-- for their alleged involvement in the crime

A day after a 15-year-old boy was detained for allegedly killing a 13-year-old boy over a monetary dispute, police on Wednesday detained two more minors --- brothers aged 13 and 16-- for their alleged involvement in the crime.

Police said the suspects had gone to their relatives’ homes in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, from where they were taken into custody. (Representational image)

Police said the suspects had gone to their relatives’ homes in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, from where they were taken into custody.

On Wednesday, all three minors — aged 13, 15 and 16 — residents of Noida Sector 22, were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) and remanded in an observation home.

“In their statements, the 16-year-old told the Board that on the day of the incident, the 15-year-old boy, who worked at a shop, stole ₹2,000 from his workplace to party with them. On the evening of August 16, all four went to the Sector 54 green belt to party, where a dispute took place between the victim and the suspects over money. Following a heated argument, the 16-year-old smothered the 13-year-old to death and they fled the spot, leaving his body there,” Arun Gupta, member magistrate of the JJB, told HT.

No previous criminal record of the minors has been found.

Explaining the motive, Manisha Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police, Noida, said, “As the victim and the suspects had partied together in the past, the suspects claimed that he owed ₹3,000 as his contribution towards those parties. The dispute escalated when they demanded the money and the victim slapped one of them. They later smothered him and hit him on the head with a brick.”

Police said all three left Noida and went to their relatives’ homes in different districts, from where they were taken into custody by police. No sharp-edged weapon, as alleged by the victim’s family, was used in the crime, officials said. The autopsy report also did not mention any external injuries. The victim’s viscera has been preserved and sent for forensic analysis.

When asked about the delay in filing the missing person complaint after the 15-year-old went missing, police said that happened owing to jurisdictional issues. Gupta said, “According to the Supreme Court guidelines, it is mandatory to register an FIR or zero FIR without sending the complaint from one place to another in cases involving minors. However, the statements of the victim’s family are yet to be recorded, and action will be taken based on their allegations and findings.”

Meanwhile, the family of the 13-year-old continued their protest till late Wednesday evening, demanding compensation and strict action against the suspects.

“We have not been informed about the motive yet. Police said they will inform us only after we agree to cremate the body,” the victim’s mother said.

The Class 9 student had left his Sector 20 home around 4pm on August 16, telling his sister that he was going to attend a friend’s birthday party in Chaura village, Sector 22. His mother, who works at a government hospital in Noida, approached police on August 18 after he failed to return home and she was unable to contact him as he did not have a phone. She alleged that although police assured her of help, no formal complaint was registered.

The family later alleged that a minor boy from Chaura village told the victim’s mother on August 23 that her son had been killed. The family approached police again on Monday night with the help of one of the mother’s acquaintances and a case under Section 137(2) of the BNS for kidnapping was registered against two named suspects at Sector 24 police station on August 24 at 12.56am.

The decomposed body of the teenager was recovered by police around four days before the family was called to identify it on Tuesday morning, the family alleged. His mother said she identified him by the red sacred thread (kalava) on his body and his belt buckle, as the body was in a highly decomposed state.