Teens bludgeon 16-year-old friend to death with bricks in Ludhiana, held

After murdering the victim, accused made a call to his father using his mobile phone, demanding Rs 50,000 as ransom, say police.

Two 18-year-old boys were arrested for kidnapping their 16-year-old friend and bludgeoning him to death with bricks in Husainpura village, Salem Tabri, on Tuesday.

Though police tracked down the accused with the mobile phone location, Preet had been killed by then. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

After murdering the victim, Preet of Jassiyan village, the accused duo made a call to his father using his mobile phone and demanded Rs 50,000 as ransom.

The Salem Tabri police traced the call after being sounded by the victim’s father and arrested the accused, Vijay Kumar and his unidentified accomplice.

“Dashrath Lal, a hosiery worker, had approached the police on Monday after his son Preet did not return home. Preet had left home after a phone call, saying he will return in a few minutes, but never came back,” said Gurbinder Singh, assistant commissioner of police (ACP, North).

On Tuesday afternoon, Dashrath received a call from Preet’s mobile phone, with the caller claiming that the boy was in his custody, and demanded Rs 50,000 to release him. However, on tracking down the accused using the mobile phone location, police realised Preet had been killed.

Police are questioning the accused to establish the reason behind the murder. They have not ruled out the involvement of more people in the crime.