A charred body of an abducted nine-year-old boy was recovered in Mahabubabad district of Telangana on Thursday.
A boy named Deekshith Reddy was kidnapped on Sunday and kidnappers had been in contact with the victim’s parents till Wednesday asking for money.
However, according to the police, the child was killed the same day he was abducted.
Deekshith’s father Ravinder Reddy works for a Telugu news channel.
Parents approached Telangana police and special teams immediately pressed into action to find the missing child. Eight teams were constituted to nab the kidnappers and rescue the child.
Police found that the suspects were using private numbers and making internet calls to avoid being traced.
They had even warned the parents of dire consequences if they did not agree to pay Rs 45 lakh ransom and the parents agreed to give the money and showed the cash on video call also.
On Wednesday, police apprehended Manoj Reddy, who disclosed the plot. Police later found that the child had already been killed and his body was dumped.
According to Mahabubabad police, Deekshith had been kidnapped by a man named Sagar, who was well acquainted with the boy.
Based on the initial confession of the accused, Sagar had kidnapped the boy to demand ransom money from his parents. But he soon realised that he hadn’t thought the whole plan through and that the boy would now identify him as the culprit if he allowed him to return home safely.
Police said that Sagar has now confessed that he had already strangulated and killed Deekshith by then.
Mahabubabad SP said, “About an hour after taking Deekshith away, he (Sagar) found it difficult to deal with him, as the boy is very active. He started rethinking his plan, as the boy could identify him if he remained alive. He then strangled the boy and later burnt the dead body.”
Sagar is a mechanic who runs an automobile repair shop and is familiar with the slain Deekshith.
Sagar called the boy by saying “sit on the bike and let’s go out, I have some work”. The boy told his friends that ‘anna’ (brother) had called so he would go along and return soon. Later this brutal murder happened.