4 Bihar kidnappers kill jeweller’s son, then demand ₹20 lakh ransom; arrested

BETTIAH: Four men arrested in Bihar’s West Champaran district on charges of kidnapping a jeweller’s 14-year-old son on Wednesday have told the police that they killed the teenager before making the call to seek ₹20 lakh ransom, police said on Friday.

The class 9 student’s body was recovered from a secluded place near a steel plant in Kumarbag, 12 km from district headquarters Bettiah, at the instance of the four suspects, West Champaran district superintendent of police (SP) D Amarkesh said.

Amarkesh said the body was recovered from a pond at about 1:30am on Friday. His hands and legs had been tied. Police said there were multiple injury marks on his body.

The boy’s uncle, Suraj Kumar, said they had hoped the young boy would be safe. “We were hopeful that Ashish would be rescued safely before we came to know about his death,” Kumar said.

The boy, a class 9 student of Kumarbag high school near Bettiah, went missing on Wednesday.

Bettiah’s sub divisional police officer Mahtab Alam said the boy was at school till 1pm on Wednesday. “But he was nowhere to be found around. His school bag was at the school,” Alam added.

Amarkesh said the boy’s body was located following the arrest of the four suspects. “The kidnappers killed the boy on Wednesday itself and made a ransom call after the murder,” he said, citing the interrogation of the four suspects.