PATNA: In a chilling reminder of the continuing abduction industry in Bihar, a three-year-old boy was killed within 24 hours after being kidnapped from his home because his parents failed to pay a ransom of Rs 6 lakh.
The body of Shreyansh Singh, the son of Pinku Singh, a farmer in Jamorna village in the south-western district of Kaimur, was found inside a cupboard in a deserted place near their house on Monday. Police recovered the body and sent it for post-mortem. DSP Manoj Ram said the boy’s neck bore strangulation marks.
Shreyansh was abducted by unknown men when he was playing in front of his house on Saturday morning, said a grieving Pinku Singh, who blamed sluggish action by police for the loss of his son’s life. He had lodged a police complaint after not seeing his son anywhere in the village and nearby.
“The abductors called him in the night from different mobile phone numbers and demanded Rs 6 lakh as ransom for the boy’s safe release. Singh had even sought five days time to pay up. But they killed the boy,” said a relative of the grieving family. Shreyansh was the only son in this family of wealthy farmers.
Police reached the body after gleaning information from interrogation of a local criminal they detained. The four men who were arrested one after another by Monday evening confessed to have killed Shreyansh. “They said they suspected that Pinku Singh would not pay the ransom and would instead force police to get the boy released. The boy was killed sometime late in the night,” said a police official.
The boy’s abduction and murder pointed at the still thriving abduction industry in Bihar’s rural belt despite claims by the Nitish Kumar-led government of a “significant decline” in major crimes. Another boy abducted from his home in nearby Mohania a week ago is yet to return to safety. Police said efforts are on to trace him.
“Criminals no longer fear police in Bihar because the government has lost its grip on administration,” said senior BJP leader and former minister Nand Kishore Yadav. “Lack of serious efforts to create employment opportunities has led the youth to ignoble acts for income,” he added.