With the sole intention of making up for a `10-lakh loss incurred in the IPL betting, two young men kidnapped a boy for ransom and murdered him to escape being identified, here on Monday.
The accused, one of whom is a relative of the victim and the other his friend, allegedly abducted Aditya Ranka, the 13-year-old son of a diamond merchant, and murdered him to regain the money they together lost in the IPL betting.
The arrested were identified as Hinmanshu Rankha, 28, who suffered `3 lakh loss and his accomplice Brijesh Sanghvi, 25, whose loss amounts to `7 lakh.
Rankha and Sanghvi reportedly coaxed Aditya out of the house and offered him a ride in Honda City car which Aditya accepted.
Sanghvi drove him away as Rankha kept his accomplice updated on the situation at victim’s house. Later, Aditya’s father received a call from the accused asking for ransom to release his son.
However, he dismissed it as a prank being played by them. When his son did not return till evening, panicked Jitendra Rankha informed the police and the news of which Rankha passed to Sanghvi.
Police said the duo panicked and decided to murder Aditya to escape being identified by the victim. The boy was brutally stabbed and his body burnt at Panval near here.
The police said they had suspected hand of an insider in the act after the father told them that one of the kidnappers had referred to his son as chikku, his pet name.