Kidnapped son of former Janta Dal (United) leader found murdered

A 14-year-old boy’s captors allegedly killed him by slitting his throat hours after kidnapping him from Bihar’s Siwan for ransom on Wednesday to recover money lost to betting on the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches, police said.

Siwan superintendent of police (SP) Navin Chandra Jha said Rahul Kumar, a class 7 student at a local Kendriya Vidyalaya, was killed as his kidnappers feared they would be caught as police were on their trail.

Rahul Kumar’s father, Surendra Patel, who was a Janata Dal (United) leader, too, was murdered in 2006. Kumar’s mother, Sangita Patel, is a councillor.

Jha said the police were informed about the kidnapping around 8.44 pm on Wednesday minutes after the boy’s family received a ransom call. He added the family suspected involvement of Vicky Kumar, 24, a neighbour of theirs. “Vicky Kumar was detained from his house in Bangali-Pakdi around 9.30 pm. He named his cousin, Pappu Kumar, 32, who was also detained soon after.”

The two led the police to Rahul Kumar’s body, which was recovered around 2.30 am on Thursday from an agricultural filed, about three kilometers from the minor’s residence. A mobile phone used to make the ransom call, a blood-soaked trouser and a knife with blood stains were also recovered from Vicky Kumar’s house, according to the Siwan SP

Inspector general N H Khan said Vicky Kumar called Rahul Kumar to his place and then abducted him. “A forensic team has been sent to the crime scene to gather more evidence. I have also directed the authorities to zero in on those involved with the IPL betting racket in the area.”

SP Jha said two more accused, Abhishek Kumar, 19, and Abhinav Kumar Singh, 23, were also arrested on Wednesday night.

All the four accused have confessed to the crime during interrogation, according to Jha. They told their interrogators that the IPL betting prompted them to kidnap Rahul Kumar. The Siwan SP said Abhishek Kumar and Singh had lost “big money” to the betting.

According to the police complaint lodged in the case, Rahul Kumar’s uncle, Nagendra Patel, received the ransom call demanding 50 lakh for the boy’s release around 8.30 pm. Rahul Kumar had earlier on Wednesday gone missing after leaving for school.

Kumar cousin, Rajeev Ranjan, reported the kidnapping to the police even as the ransom caller had threatened the family with dire consequences if they informed the cops, the complaint said.

Police said the kidnappers slit Kumar’s throat and injured his right eye with a knife.

First Published: Apr 05, 2019 01:12 IST