A six-year-old boy was battered to death and his elder brother seriously injured allegedly by their abductors, who were nabbed by the police after a gunfight in Sultanpur district of Uttar Pradesh.
Priyansh, 6, and his elder brother Divyanash, 8, the sons of a Sultanpur-based businessman, Rakesh Agrahari, were kidnapped Thursday for a ransom of Rs 50 lakh from Katka Bazar in Gosaiganj area of Sultanpur while they were going to school, police said here.
Following the encounter with the alleged abductors, the police rescued the businessmen's elder son Divyansh and rushed him to the trauma centre of the King George's Medical University here in a serious condition, officials said.
The younger child, Priyansh, however, had already been killed by their abductors before the police could apprehend the abductors, the officials said.
The alleged abductors, including the domestic help of the businessman, got to now that the police were after them and brutally battered the two young children, killing one of them, police said.
Following the encounter, the police arrested four people, including the mastermind of the crime, the businessman's domestic help.
The arrested persons were identified as Raghubar, Hariom, Suraj and Shivpujan, who suffered a bullet injury in his leg during the encounter and has been admitted to a hospital here, police said.
"We have arrested four persons involved in the kidnapping, including the mastermind who was a servant of the businessman and had breached his trust," Sultanpur SP Anurag Vats told PTI over phone.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, meanwhile, visited the trauma centre here to to see the injured child and asked the hospital to take the best possible care of him.
He also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh for Priyansh's family and Rs 2 lakh for Divyansh's treatment.
The chief minister also directed the DGP to start a drive for verification of the credentials of domestic servants all over the state.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)