Woman MBBS student among four arrested for kidnap, murder of Greater Noida teenager

The gang had monetary and business related disputes with the boy’s father, and allegedly taking inspiration from a web series they decided to kidnap the boy to get back at his father

After arresting four people for the kidnap and murder of a 15-year-old boy, the Greater Noida police on Thursday said the boy was abducted and killed by a gang of four over monetary disputes they allegedly had with his father.

Kunal Sharma, the son of a dhaba owner, was kidnapped on May 1 from outside his father’s eatery in sector Beta 2 in a white car, his body was found on May 5 in a canal in Milka Mosamgarh in Bulandshahr, around 50 kms from Greater Noida. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

According to police, 15-year-old Kunal Sharma, the son of a dhaba owner, was kidnapped on May 1 from outside his father’s dhaba in sector Beta 2 by the gang which came in a white car with fake number plates. On Sunday (May 5), the boy’s body was found in a canal in Milka Mosamgarh in Bulandshahr, around 50 kilometres from Greater Noida. Three suspects were arrested on Wednesday night following a brief gunfight with the police, while the fourth suspect, a woman, was arrested on Thursday morning from Greater Noida, police said.

Senior officers said the gang had monetary and business related disputes with the boy’s father, and allegedly taking inspiration from a 2022 web series, they decided to kidnap the boy to get back at his father.

Police’s entire investigation was centered around the white car, which was visible in the CCTV footage from outside the dhaba, said senior officers. To dissuade the police, the suspects were shrewd enough to change all car stickers from front to back and also remove the black film from the car windows. They also used a fake registration number, police said, making it difficult to trace the car.

“The suspects have been identified as Manoj Sharma, 39, a resident of Dadri in Greater Noida; Himanshu Singh, 25, a resident of Bulandshahr; Kunal Bhati, 22, a resident of Kasna in Greater Noida; and Tanvi, 20, an MBBS student,” said Babloo Kumar, additional commissioner of police, Gautam Budh Nagar.

Explaining the sequence of events, police said on May 1, around 2.20pm, Tanvi approached Sharma at the dhaba and told him that Himanshu, who was an acquaintance, wanted to discuss something important in the car parked outside the dhaba. As soon as Sharma boarded the car, Bhati overpowered him and taped his mouth shut,” said Babloo Kumar, adding that they drove to Himanshu’s rented accommodation in Jaypee Wish Town and put Sharma in a trolley bag in the car to transport him upstairs to their flat.

The additional CP said once inside the flat, arguments broke out between the abductors and Sharma and they assaulted Sharma. “One of them forcefully banged Sharma’s head against the wall and he collapsed dead,” he said.

Later, the suspects packed the body in the same trolley bag and changed their clothes. After removing the car’s stickers and black film, they left for Bulandshahr via Kherli Hafizpur village and dumped the body in a canal, said Babloo Kumar.

Later, they dumped Sharma’s clothes and all the evidence, including the clothes they wore at the time of the crime, in a nullah in Bakhtawarpur in Sector 127, said the police.

“During questioning, the suspects revealed that Manoj, who was a relative of Sharma, had taken a loan of ₹23 lakh from Sharma’s father, Krishna Kumar Sharma, who lends money on interest. When Manoj was unable to repay the loan, Krishna Kumar took over Manoj’s business, the dhaba, and assigned his son to run it,” said Babloo Kumar.

“Manoj was angry with Krishna Kumar over this. Himanshu, who took a loan of ₹2 lakh from Krishna Kumar with the help of Manoj, was also under pressure to pay up. So they decided to kidnap and murder Krishna Kumar’s son around a month ago.”

“It is suspected that Sharma was also pressuring Himanshu to clear the debt whenever he saw Himanshu at the dhaba,” said a police investigator, adding that Himanshu’s woman friend Tanvi and Bhati and also joined them in the conspiracy and murder.

The additional CP said, “The suspects planned the murder after watching a web series. It was from the series that they got the idea for getting rid of the evidence.”

Police have recovered the car used in the crime, a trolley bag, stickers, Sharma’s clothes, and his mobile phone. The suspects were booked on charges of murder at Beta 2 police station and further investigations are underway.