10-year-old boy kidnapped, murdered for ransom

10-year-old boy kidnapped, murdered for ransom
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 12
A drug-addict of Nai Basti, along with an accomplice, kidnapped and brutally murdered a 10-year-old boy, son of a neighbouring ration depot owner, allegedly to arrange money for drugs and for using it to clear a supplementary exam of Class XII.

The accused, Darbinder and Gagandeep, both aged around 20, allegedly kidnapped Shaleen Gupta, son of Naresh Gupta, alias Kala, in the Ram Darbar temple street in ward No. 23, Nai Basti, around 8.30 pm yesterday.

The boy’s body, with stab marks on neck, was recovered around 4 am today from near the Tawi in Belicharana village, about 10 km from the victim’s house.

Enraged family members and area residents went their ire at the police and the house of the accused after the body was recovered. An irate mob set the house of the main accused, Darbinder, on fire.The mob also stormed into the Gandhi Nagar police station this afternoon and blocked Satwari Chowk for four hours and laid seize to the four-lane highway up to Gandhi Nagar police station.

Shaleen Gupta was the only son in the extended family of three brothers. He went missing in the evening after he left home to play video game in a shop. The family panicked when he did not return and was not found at the shop also. Around 8.30 pm, kidnappers called up Naresh Gupta over his mobile phone demanding a ransom of Rs 10 lakh by 3 am on Sunday.

Naresh said with the help of other relatives, he found that the kidnappers used an STD booth near the bus stand to make the call. The kidnappers had told him they knew what was going in his house and if he went to the police his son would be killed. Naresh said this made him suspicious that a member of the gang was lurking around their house and giving information to the kidnappers. They also suspected Darbinder, a drug addict, who was involved in a failed kidnapping attempt a few months ago, was behind the kidnapping.

They informed the police, which arrested Darbinder around 11.30 pm but released him an hour later saying nothing was found against him. Later the body was recovered around 4 am. The police arrested Darbinder again, who later confessed to his crime and named co-accused Gagandeep.

Deputy Commissioner (DC), Jammu, MK Dwivedi has announced an ex gratia payment of Rs one lakh to the victim’s family. SSP, Jammu, Basant Rath said, “A departmental inquiry has been marked in this incident and no one will be spared.”