The Maharajganj police claimed to have solved the kidnapping of a 6-year-old boy when they arrested a 14-year-old boy, a Class IX student, for the crime.
The police said the accused killed the boy soon after kidnapping him and later buried the body in a field nearby.
The police have exhumed a body and sent it for autopsy.
According to the police, the victim and the alleged killer are related and their houses are located in the same neighbourhood.
‘The accused revealed that he was unhappy with the victim’s family as they used to make remarks on him and even called him a thief. To teach them a lesson, he killed the six-year-old and buried the body,” the local SHO said.
The accused also confessed of writing a letter for ransom in his handwriting and later throwing it in the victim’s house.
However, residents of the area protested against the detention of the Class IX student, accusing police of framing him.
The SHO said that the accused had confessed to the crime and based on his inputs, they had located the body of the six-year-old.
The locals withdrew their protest only after the police showed them evidence against the boy, the SHO said, adding that the situation was now under control.
“During our probe, it came to light that the 6-year-old was last spotted with the accused so we brought him to the police station for interrogation. During questioning, he confessed to the crime and gave us the location of the body. Based on his information, we dug a field, which is around 100 metres from the victim’s house, and recovered a body… The Class IX student had killed the six-year-old just 20 minutes after kidnapping him,” the SHO said. “He will be produced before a Juvenile Justice Board,’ the SHO added.
On Wednesday, the mother of the six-year-old had filed a complaint with the police, stating that her son had gone missing while playing outside the house. Later that night, a stone wrapped in a letter was thrown in the victim’s house. In the letter, a demand of Rs 50 lakh was made for the safe release of the boy.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, at least six people were injured in stone pelting between two groups over sexual harassment of an 18-year-old girl in a village in Muzaffarnagar district, police said on Monday.
The clash took place on Sunday when a man entered the girl’s house. The girl was sleeping at that time. The man allegedly sexually harassed the girl. Her parents were in another room at the time of the incident.
Police said the victim’s family opposed the man but violent clashes started as more people gathered there.
The two groups pelted stones at each other, injuring at least six people. The police reached the spot and controlled the situation.
According to the local SHO, V Shankar Tripathi, the police have registered a case against 30 people and named 14 others. Apart from this, some people have also been detained.
He said that security has been tightened in the village.
In Hamirpur, a youth was crushed to death by a tractor in Chikasi area over some dispute. Inspector (SHO) of Chikasi police station, Vinod Kumar, said on Monday, “Motorcycle rider Amit (21) was returning from Biligand village to Bilgaon Danda village after his cousin’s wedding on Sunday. He was crushed and killed on the spot. One more person on the pillion was also injured.
“Investigation found that there was a fight between Amit and Dhir Singh over something a few days ago.” Kumar said, adding that a case had been registered against Dhir Singh in this regard and efforts were being made to nab him.