Six-year-old kidnapped Batala boy murdered

In a shocking incident, a six-year-old boy kidnapped from a temple here on Thursday evening was murdered by the kidnappers on Friday, who threw the body into the Upper Bari Doab Canal at Dhariwal, 15 km from here.

In a shocking incident, a six-year-old boy kidnapped from a temple here on Thursday evening was murdered by the kidnappers on Friday, who threw the body into the Upper Bari Doab Canal at Dhariwal, 15 km from here.

Having failed to trace the boy, the family lodged a complaint with the city police around 9pm, but seeing the police’s alleged indifferent attitude, people, along with the family, protested against the police and sat on a dharna at Gandhi Chowk. SSP Harpreet Singh rushed to the spot and a team was sent to trace the boy. (HT Illustration)

Though police refused to divulge the details, sources said they had rounded up the four accused, who had confessed to the crime.

Krishna, a resident of Monian Mohalla in this town, had gone to Bawa Lalji temple on Thursday evening with mother Rama Bhatia. Around 6.30, his mother left him at the temple where he was playing with his friends while she returned to their nearby house. After half an hour, when Rama went to the temple to fetch Krishna, she was shocked not to find him there.

Having failed to trace the boy, the family lodged a complaint with the city police around 9pm, but seeing the police’s alleged indifferent attitude, people, along with the family, protested against the police and sat on a dharna at Gandhi Chowk. SSP Harpreet Singh rushed to the spot and a team was sent to trace the boy.

SSP Harpreet Singh told HT that it was a cold-blooded murder. The accused who were known to the family took Krishna out of town and intended a ransom of Rs 20,000, but as the word spread, they killed the boy. Initial investigation showed that they had thrown the body into the canal. Divers are looking for the body. The SSP said the boy was kidnapped for ransom. He refused to give more details.