Man loses money in betting, abducts and kills cousin

The 13-year-old son of a diamond merchant residing in south Mumbai was kidnapped and brutally murdered by his cousin on Monday night. The semicharred body of the boy was found about 6km away from Panvel near the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. HT reports. Other similar cases

After losing big money in cricket betting, a man hatched a plot to kidnap his 13-year-old cousin for ransom and then got him hacked to death by his friend when the police got to know of the case.

The 13-year-old son of a diamond merchant residing in south Mumbai was kidnapped and murdered for ransom on Monday night.

The boy’s semicharred body was found about 6km from Panvel near the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on Tuesday evening.

HT Image

At around 11am on Monday, a person phoned Jitendra Ranka's residence and asked his wife to send their son Aditya to a shop nearby to collect a set of keys Ranka had left behind.

The first floor flat in Pavapuri building in Girgaum where Aditya Ranka lived. (HT Photo)

Aditya's 28-year-old cousin Himanshu Ranka met him near the shop, and under the pretext of going for a drive, kidnapped him and handed him over to his friend Brijesh Sanghvi.

Soon after, Ranka received a call demanding Rs 30 lakh ransom, which he did not take seriously, but when Aditya did not return till evening, he filed a complaint with the VP Road police station.

When Himanshu, who had returned home, informed Sanghvi of police's involvement, the latter panicked and killed Aditya by slitting his wrist. Other similar cases

He then burnt the body and dumped the remains near the expressway.

The duo used to indulge in cricket betting and had incurred heavy losses, the police said.

Police have arrested Himanshu's friend Brijesh Sanghvi, who owned the car and killed Aditya by slitting his wrist. Himanshu after handing over Aditya to Sanghvi came back to the house.