Kasganj: 3 held in for kidnapping, killing boy over family dispute

Circle Officer (Patiyali) Gavendra Pal Gautam said the boy, Lokesh, was kidnapped from near his house. “Lokesh’s body was recovered on Wednesday, following which we launched a search for the accused,” said Gautam.

He added, “The two families live close to each other and have neighbouring farm lands. The dispute started after Lokesh’s family objected to the installation of some irrigation equipment by the family of the accused. Three people then kidnapped the boy.”

A statement issued by the police on Thursday said, “On January 19, a complaint was received from Kishanveer Singh that his 10-year-old son Lokesh was missing. A case was lodged under 364-A (kidnapping). Three teams were formed for the case.” Lokesh’s body was recovered from a field outside the village.

The statement added, “After receiving information from an informant around 3.40 am on Thursday, Ajay Kumar was intercepted. During a brief confrontation with police, he suffered a bullet wound in his leg… The remaining accused were also arrested on Thursday.”

Police said on questioning, the accused revealed that they had a dispute about farming and land with the boy’s family. “They said Ajay and Amar tempted the boy by telling him that they will let him listen to songs on their mobile phones. They took him to a field where they strangled him with a rope and hid his body in a pile of bajra,” said a statement.

Police also said the kidnappers made a fake ransom call after killing the boy in order to mislead them. “They had killed the boy on Monday, but misled us by making calls demanding a ransom of Rs 40 lakh,” said a police officer.

Police have recovered an illegal countrymade pistol, some cartridges and a motorcycle from the accused.