The body of a 10-year-old boy, who was kidnapped last Monday and a ransom of Rs 40 lakh was demanded for his release, was found in Sidhpura area of Kashganj on Wednesday.
On Thursday evening, the local police claimed to have arrested three miscreants and said that the victim was kidnapped over a family enmity between two families.
Last Monday, Lokesh (10) went missing near his home at Pithampur village of Sidhpura police station area. After the family got a call for a ransom of Rs 40 lakh for his release, Lokesh’s father Kishanveer Singh lodged a case of kidnapping accusing some persons and three police teams were formed to track down the accused. However on Wednesday, Lokesh’s body was recovered on the fringes of the village. The police later intensified their search and arrested three accused - Ajay Kumar, Amar Pal and Raj Bahadur on Thursday.
Circle Officer (Patiyali) Gavendra Pal Gautam.
said that two families have been living in adjacent houses in the village and also had neighbouring farm lands. The dispute started after Lokesh’s family objected to installation of irrigation equipment by the other family on the farmland.
During quizzing the accused are reported to have revealed that they kidnapped Lokesh over the family feud. Ajay and Amar lured the boy by assuring to let her listen to songs on their phones and took him to a field where they strangled him and dumped his body near a bajra mound. Despite the killing the hostage on Monday, the accused made the ransom call to mislead them.