Boy killed for Rs 50 lakh ransom in Siwan

PATNA: A slain JD(U) leader’s minor son, who was kidnapped on Wednesday for a ransom demand of Rs 50 lakh, was found dead with his throat slit in a field about five km from his house in Siwan on Thursday.
Rahul Singh Patel (14) was snatched when he went out to play with friends at his village Pakdi Bangali under Mahadeva police outpost in Siwan. The kidnappers, who used to play cricket with the victim, wanted to recover money they had lost in IPL betting, police said.
Police have arrested four youths, aged between 18 and 23 years, for their alleged involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Rahul, who was a Class VIII student of Kendriya Vidyalaya in Siwan.His father Surendra Singh Patel was shot dead just before he was born in 2004.
Siwan SP Naveen Chandra Jha said the arrested youths were identified as Vicky Kumar, Abhishek Kumar, Abhinav Kumar and Pappu Kumar. Jha said the conspiracy to kidnap Rahul was hatched after Vicky and Abhinav lost around Rs 50,000 in IPL betting. He said Vicky and Pappu were maternal cousins.
The SP said the boy’s family received only one ranson call of Rs 50 lakh at around 7.30pm after which kidnappers switched off the phone. “I received a call at 8.44pm after which the investigation began. Vicky was the first to be picked up by police. He had used a cell phone to make the ransom call, which he had snatched in December last year,” he said.
Jha said Vicky broke down during interrogation and revealed the location where they had dumped the body after which the boy’s body was recovered.
“Vicky’s trouser with along with a sharp edged weapon used for murder, both with blood stains, were also recovered by police from his residence,” he said.
Jha said prima facie it seems that the boy was murdered even before police was contacted by family members. “Vicky and others might have developed fear of getting caught as the boy knew them very closely following which they murdered him,” he added.