Kidnapped for ransom by ‘uncles’, Powai child’s body found near Bhayandar creek

The Powai police has arrested two men in connection with the kidnapping and murder a 10-year-old boy, whose body was recovered from a secluded area behind Azad Nagar in Bhayandar (east) on Tuesday.

The two accused, Amar Singh (20) and Lalu Singh (20), had allegedly kidnapped the child, Ritesh Babloo Singh, for ‘ransom.’ But the duo got scared after one of the accused got a call from Ritesh’s father enquiring about the whereabouts of his son and strangulated the child before dumping him near Bhayandar creek.

Since the child would frequently visit the workshop where the duo worked as welders, Ritesh’s father called them up to enquire about their missing child. However both were evasive in their replies, giving reasons for the police to suspect their involvement. Apart from launching a search operation to trace the kid, the police called the duo for questioning. Initially they feigned ignorance, however after intense grilling they confessed that they had murdered Ritesh and dumped his body. The police then recovered the child’s body and sent it for an autopsy.

“Ritesh was playing with Amar Singh on Sunday. When Ritesh did not return home by evening, his parents started to search for him. Babloo got to know that his son Ritesh was last seen playing with Amar. When Babloo called Amar, the latter denied knowing the kid’s whereabouts and got scared and killed the boy in a hurry. The duo had planned on demanding Rs. 4 lakh as ransom from Ritesh’s father, who works as an electrician,” senior inspector of Powai police station Anil Pophale said.

After kidnapping the child, Amar took him to Navghar in Bhayandar and kept the him at Lallu’s house. “Amar returned to his home in Powai on Monday. When we interrogated Amar, he revealed everything to us and confessed to the crime. Based on the information, we have also arrested his accomplice Lallu and recovered the body,” said Pophale.

Amar and Lallu used to work together as welders almost three years ago, said police. The police said Amar, Lallu and Babloo belong to the same village from UP.

Eldest of two siblings, Ritesh was a third standard student and used to call the accused ‘uncle’. The family had shifted to Mumbai just six months ago. The duo – Amar and Lallu – have been booked for kidnapping and murder charges of Indian Penal Code (IPC). They were produced before court that has sent them into police custody for seven days.