13-year-old boy kidnapped in Jabalpur found dead

The child, Aditya, was kidnapped on Thursday evening when he went to a grocery store near his home in Dhanvantari Nagar, officials said. The accused then called his father, Mukesh Lamba, demanding Rs 2 crore for his return and threatened them of dire consequences if they informed the police.

The 13-year-old son of a Jabalpur-based transporter was found dead in a canal in the district, days after he was allegedly kidnapped for a ransom of Rs 2 crore, police officials said Sunday.

The boy’s body was found in a canal about 15 kilometres from the district headquarters on Sunday morning, police officials said. (HT file photo)

The child, Aditya, was kidnapped on Thursday evening when he went to a grocery store near his home in Dhanvantari Nagar, officials said. The accused then called his father, Mukesh Lamba, demanding Rs 2 crore for his return and threatened them of dire consequences if they informed the police, officials said.

The boy’s body was found in a canal about 15 kilometres from the district headquarters on Sunday morning, police officials said.

City superintendent of police (CSP), Jabalpur Alok Sharma said, “The dead body of the boy was found floating in a canal near village Bichhua under Panagar police station this morning. A towel (gamchha) was found around the neck of the body suggesting the boy was strangulated to death. The accused will be arrested soon.”

Additional director general (ADG) of police (intelligence) Adarsh Katiyar said in Bhopal, “An accused has been arrested.”

Meanwhile, hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state, Congress leader Kamal Nath said, “After liquor mafia killing 14 persons in Ujjain kidnapping mafia killed a boy in Jabalpur. When Congress was in power, we smashed mafia across the state but the BJP government is sparing them for reasons best known to the government.”